All Good Things
by lokyisa
Summary: After being rejected by Sakura, Sasuke is hit by a car. After the accident, Sakura is given the option to save his life by a mysterious woman who demands her own in return.
1. Chapter 1

_"But tell me now, where was my fault_  
><em>In loving you with my whole heart"<em>

_-Mumford & Sons_

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><p>It was the night of graduation and I, Sakura Haruno, was on top of the world. I had everything I wanted - I was going to the school of my dreams, I had a lot of friends, I wasn't going to be held down by the relationship I had just gotten out of (although I wish that I had realized that Kiba wasn't my type earlier...), and I was finally getting out of the hell-hole that was high school forever.<p>

Really, what more could I want?

Graduation was okay - walking across the stage to get my diploma was a blur, as were the various speeches, but the best part of the night was the much-anticipated party afterward. It was held by my ex-boyfriend Kiba himself, but I wanted to be there anyway. Everyone that mattered was going to be there.

Looking back, everything that happened there was a blur too. I remember talking to Ino briefly, and avoiding Kiba, but everything that mattered happened when Sasuke pulled me away.

"What is this about?" I laughed, once we were outside under a tree. I could hear music from the party from where we were standing, and was itching to get back in. Besides, it was raining, and I didn't want to get my new dress wet.

Sasuke looked uncomfortable, which was strange for him. Usually Sasuke was the collected one, whereas I was the girl that freaked over everything. Oh well. "Sakura, there's something I have to tell you." He said.

I was barely paying attention. "What is it, Sasuke?" Really, you'd think he would have thought to do this earlier.

"Well," he said, "you've been my best friend since fifth grade, and since we're going to different schools next year, I figured it would be now or never..." he paused, "I've never felt this way about anyone before, and I wanted to tell you before it was too late: I love you, Sakura."

If I was distracted before, I was definitely paying full attention now. "Did you just say what I think you did?"

"Yes," Sasuke said, "and I was hoping that you were feeling the same way."

"S-sasuke," I replied, "We're friends - best friends. I don't want to ruin what we already have."

His face was blank. I knew he did this when he was hiding something. "Okay." he said, simply.

"How much have you had to drink?" I said, laughing a little. Maybe it was just the alcohol he had consumed that was making him think this way. It had to be.

"You think I'm saying this because I'm drunk?" He asked incredulously. "You know I don't drink, Sakura."

That completely slipped my mind. "Look," I went on, "we've just graduated. That makes people things that they'll regret later. I don't want this to happen to us."

"It's fine." Sasuke said.

"We should totally stay friends though!" I said hastily, before returning to the party. I would apologize later - Sasuke would understand. Besides, I was sure he didn't mean it.

It wasn't until I had gotten back inside that I realized I couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened. Sasuke was my best friend. He had just said he _loved _me, and I had acted completely bitchy about it. I hadn't even thought about whether or not I felt the same way - did I?

I thought about the way Sasuke had been looking at me lately, how he had always wanted to be around me. He always made me happy, and I had thought about dating him once, but it had seemed weird. Now I wasn't so sure.

"Ino, where's Sasuke?" I asked my friend who was now in a conversation with a member of the football team.

"I dunno," she said, "I thought I saw him..."

"Oh, Sasuke?" said the guy she was with, "He left like an hour ago!"

What?

"Sakura, where are you going?" Ino called after me, confused, "Don't you want to stay longer?"

"I've got to go!" I replied, "I'll explain later."

It was pouring outside, but I didn't care. I had to find Sasuke and apologize. To tell him that I had changed my mind.

Kiba's house wasn't far away from the school, which wasn't that far away from Sasuke's house, so I decided to walk - I was completely broke and couldn't afford a cab, and Ino had been my ride to the party.

As I hurried, I thought of what I would say. Nothing came to mind, so I just decided to wing it when I found him. Talking to Sasuke wouldn't be hard - I talked to him all the time.

When I was only two blocks away from Sasuke's house, I spotted the flashing blue and red lights of police cars. When I walked closer, I saw an ambulance and another car that had skidded off the road onto the sidewalk. Someone was being carried on a stretcher-

"Sasuke!" I cried, and broke out into a run. This had to be a mistake, that couldn't be Sasuke.

"Miss, I'm afraid you can't come any closer." A police man prevented me from getting any nearer to Sasuke. I could hardly see him through the rain, but it didn't look good. Was he even breathing?

It was all my fault.

"I have to see him!" I screamed. "I have to!"

The ambulance drove away, along with my best friend.

"Is he okay?" I said. "Answer me!"

The policeman sighed, he looked sad and tired. He explained that while Sasuke was walking home a car skidded off the road and hit him. He was being taken to the hospital now, and he was lucky he was still alive.

This was how I found myself in the hospital waiting room the night of graduation.

Ino and Naruto sat beside me, as nervous as I was. Naruto was pacing the room; Ino was silently crying into her hands. I had called Ino from Kiba's stupid party and told her what happened - she and Naruto came to pick me up, and then we drove to the hospital.

Sasuke was in bad shape, the doctor that had come to talk to us said that it wasn't likely that he would live through the night. We were the only ones there for him at the time - Sasuke's parents had died when he was eleven, and he had been living with his brother Itachi ever since. Itachi had just been notified of the accident and was now flying in from New York where he had been checking in on his father's company.

"It's all my fault." I said, after the doctor left.

"Don't say that, Sakura." Ino sniffed, "It isn't anyone's fault."

I explained to her what happened at the party, and why Sasuke had left in the first place. "If he hadn't left he would still be alive." I sobbed.

We got to see Sasuke when Itachi arrived four hours later - it was three o' clock in the morning by then, and Ino and Naruto had fallen asleep by then. I couldn't sleep. I was too afraid that if I did Sasuke would be gone when I woke up.

Sasuke's face was covered with cuts and bruises, and was bandaged up pretty bad. He was only breathing faintly.

"Come on, Sasuke." Naruto whispered, "Don't d-" he broke down on the last word.

Itachi looked at his little brother, his face devoid of expression. It was an Uchiha coping technique - don't let anyone see that you're feeling anything, no matter what.

I left the room after that - I couldn't look at Sasuke anymore without feeling overwhelming guilt. Why hadn't I just said yes?

I walked outside, suddenly needing fresh air. The rain had gone down to a drizzle, and I walked along the sidewalk beside the hospital. If I had just said I loved him back, none of this would be happening.

The streetlight I was beside suddenly went out, followed by the others. I was suddenly alone in the darkness. Where did the hospital go? Did we suddenly have a power outage?

I heard something move beside me, and tried not to panic. It was nothing, I told myself. You're just hallucinating from the stress. Go back to he hospital, now.

"Sakura." I jumped. Standing before me was an unearthly-looking woman with short blue hair. Her clothes were white, and she gazed at me calmly.

"Who are you?" I said, the darkness was overwhelming. I couldn't see anyone but the woman - she seemed to be glowing.

She smiled, it was a smile that unnerved me. "It doesn't matter who I am." she said, "I am here to offer you a choice."

I shook my head, I must be dreaming. "Listen," I said, "I'm in no mood for this. I really should be going-"

"Back to the friend that's going to be dead the next time you see him?" She said. "Really now, I would think that you would want to listen to what I have to say."

"H-how did you know-"

"I know a lot about you, Sakura Haruno. More than you know yourself, I must say. I've been watching you for awhile - you have everything you want: money, popularity, a family. Not a single bad thing has happened to you in all of your life, and yet you act absolutely dreadful to anyone who isn't like you."

"That isn't true..." I trailed off. It was true, I never paid much attention to the unpopular kids - a lot of them were just freaks, so why would I want to talk to them? Besides, I had Ino and Sasuke, and so many other people.

The woman only smirked, and went on. "You have proved this by dismissing your friend when he was trying to tell you of his love - such cruel behavior, even from you, Sakura. I was surprised myself."

"What do you want from me?" I said.

"Like I said, I'm here to offer you a choice. By the time you return to him, Sasuke Uchiha will be dead - something we hadn't planned on happening. Sasuke will grow up to be an extremely important person in the future. His early death may affect the world as we know it."

"But-" I started to say.

"Let me finish." She said. "Sakura Haruno, I am willing to give Sasuke his life back, in exchange for another- your own."

I stared at her blankly while everything she said replayed in my head. I always knew Sasuke would do something big, he was just that kind of person. Not only did he have big dreams, but he was kind to everyone he met. Everyone loved him. I was lucky he was my best friend.

Was. He would be dead the next time I saw him. "Okay," I said, "I'll do it."

The woman nodded, "Because of your selflessness in saving your friend, I will also offer you a chance to save your own life. The next time you wake up, it will be the first day of school of this year again. You will have to get Sasuke to fall in love with you by graduation - today, in fact. It will be difficult, but it's possible."

"Okay." I answered, "I can do that." Getting Sasuke to fall in love with me? That was her big task? I could do that - he was already in love with me. I would get Sasuke back _and _get to spend more time with him.

She pulled out a piece of paper out of thin air, along with one of those feathers people used to write with a long time ago - how old was this lady? "I'll have to ask you to sign here."

I signed my name, wondering if I was going mad.

The paper vanished into thin air as soon as I was done. "My time here is done." The woman said. "Good luck, Sakura Haruno."

"I'm ready." I answered shakily.

"There's something I forgot to add," she said with a little smirk, "Sasuke won't remember you at all when you wake up. You will have to start anew."

"But-" I said, but she was already gone.

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><p><strong>AN: **I don't know what is it with me and the supernatural stuff, but I just thought of this idea and had to write it in a fan fiction. For those of you who are reading "The Promise", I promise (pun not intended) that I'm still writing it, and it will be up soon. ;)

The beginning of this was super dramatic, so sorry about that! I hope that you will review this and tell me what you think! :) And thanks for reading!

**Update 6/17/15: **This is me slowly trying to fix any grammatical/inconsistency errors in my story (although I probably won't be able to find all of them). Since the story has gotten to seventeen chapters now I thought it would be a good idea to make sure it all matches up. :P For those of you reading this for the first time, please bear with me, and thank you for reading and please let me know what you think!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.


	2. Chapter 2

When I woke up, I was in my bedroom. Normally, the pale pink walls were comforting, but not this time. Hadn't I already packed everything away? I remembered distinctly going through everything that had collected in my room (old clothes that I never wore anymore, papers that I didn't need, old make-up...) and sorting it out into what I needed and didn't need for college.

Memories of what had happened - talking to the mysterious woman, Sasuke dying, graduation - suddenly flooded back to me. "Oh God." I said, and sat up too quickly. Had that all been a dream? But it had seemed so real.

So that must mean that graduating had been a dream too, then. I sighed, thinking that I must have some pretty awful senioritis if I was _dreaming _about graduating... oh, and my best friend dying, but I was trying really hard not to focus on that.

Groaning, I got out of bed. What day was it anyway? I had an inkling, but it couldn't be right, could it? _It was just a very bad dream, _I thought, _It didn't happen, and you're going to see Sasuke today and everything's going to be okay. _Something had changed, though. I felt eager to see Sasuke now, like I couldn't function unless I knew he was going to be okay.

I tried to maintain my composure as I got ready for school. I always tried to dress cute everyday, and today was no exception.

"Sakuraaa!" My mom called from downstairs. "If you don't leave now you're going to be late!"

"Coming!" I said, but took five minuted longer to finish touching up my make-up. It brought out my eyes nicely, I thought.

I drove to school in my mom's old car - not the one I wanted, but it was a car after all. I couldn't stop thinking about Sasuke on the way.

Even before I got to school, I knew something was wrong. Perhaps it was the fact that the weather didn't seem right for May (the month before graduation), and everyone looked different. I couldn't put my finger on it.

It wasn't until I realized that everyone inside was getting their schedules that I knew it had happened - it was the first day of my senior year again. At this realization, I felt nauseated. Suddenly, the world started to spin. I ended up on the floor with a few underclassmen around me, looking worried. "Are you okay?" one of them asked.

After an embarrassing trip to the nurse - not a good way to re-start the year, in my opinion, I finally received my schedule and began to look for Sasuke. I had to see him, and something within me couldn't believe that he could forget about me. Whatever was going on would all be fixed once I saw Sasuke.

As I searched for my best friend, I failed to notice the looks people were giving me. My old friends barely paid me any attention, but I was too busy searching for Sasuke to care.

Finally, I found him. He was in a group of our friends, laughing about something Naruto undoubtedly said. Naruto had been Sasuke's friend only a few years longer than I had, but we were equally as close. I felt relieved when I saw Sasuke whole and healthy. "Sasuke." I smiled. "Hey, how are you?"

Sasuke turned, and I realized how _good _he looked. I mean, I always knew he was attractive, but now I was noticing. For once in my life, I didn't see him as a just a friend. "I'm sorry," he said politely, "but do I know you?"

It felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. "Is this a joke?" I said, even though I knew it wasn't. How could he forget?

"Hey," a pretty girl with red hair stepped forward, smirking, "that's the girl who fainted!" Karin. She must have noticed that I wasn't with Sasuke and pounced. But he didn't remember me, and from the looks I was getting from everyone else, it looked like no one else did either.

"Karin, don't be a bitch." Someone said, but I was too busy walking away.

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><p>I found myself in the bathroom crying - something that I had sworn only losers did. My philosophy was to keep a demeanor of happiness and poise when others could see you, and only show ugly emotions like fear or anger or anything that caused you to cry when you were at home.<p>

That all changed when I realized that this wasn't a dream. What was I going to do?

It seemed like a lot of time had passed, but the bell to go to first period hadn't rung yet. I wondered if I missed it, but part of me didn't care. Reluctantly, I left the solace of the bathroom stall, and ran right into the mysterious woman that put me here in the first place.

"Aah!" I screamed, and then covered my mouth with my hand. What if someone heard? Would they think I was even more of a freak than I already was? I had never been in this position before in my life.

The woman smiled. Today she was wearing an odd black dress with an elegantly high collar. Her hair was still short and blue, and this time she had placed a flower in it. I wondered where she got her clothes. "Don't worry, Sakura. No one will hear you, nor will they come in."

"You didn't tell me that no one else would remember me." I accused, "How am I supposed to get Sasuke to love me if I'm not popular anymore?"

She was still smiling; it was a little creepy, "I didn't say that this would be easy, Sakura." She said. "In fact, for most it would be impossible."

I felt the familiar pinpricks behind my eyes that told me I was about to start crying again. "Why are you doing this?" I said finally. "What did I do-"

"What you did was save the life of your friend," she replied, not very warmly I might add, "but you have never been grateful of anything in your life. Everything you have was handed to you. This time, you will not have that advantage."

I shook my head, if she thought my life was easy-

"Oh, but it is." She said. "You've taken so many things for granted, and only focused on the bad things, Sakura."

"Did you just read my mind?" I demanded.

"In a way, yes." She answered. "I have come to remind you that your time is limited. Good luck."

"Wait," I said, "What can I call you? Do you have a name, even?"

"I have many names, but you may call me Konan." The woman said, and then she was gone.

The bell rang. I hurried to my first class unwillingly. Really, you'd think I could at least get a break. School hadn't even started officially yet and I had already fainted, lost all of my friends, and been told my some weird witch-lady that I was selfish. This really sucked.

I showed up to my first period (English, duh. It's not like I haven't already had a year of it) a minute late, but no one seemed to notice, not even the teacher as he wasn't even there yet. Kakashi, as he had us call him, always showed up late.

I began to walk to my usual seat, but then stopped, realizing that it wasn't anymore. Last year, I had sat by Ino everyday during English, and we had gossiped the whole time. Honestly, I'm surprised we even passed this class (okay, not really. I'm sort of a perfectionist and always found time to get my work done. I guess I'm really just surprised that Ino passed.) Now, I found Karin in my seat. God, was Karin taking over my life? (Okay, now I remember, Ino was totally copying my work.)

"Need anything?" Karin mocked, noticing me staring.

I blinked, not even replying. The only seat left was in the back beside this girl named Hinata. She was nice enough, I guess, but had always been a little weird. I suddenly missed Ino even more. Why couldn't Konan just make _Sasuke _forget about me? Why did it have to be everyone?

"Er," I said, looking at Hinata beside me. She always dressed sort of boyish - today she was wearing jeans and a dark sweatshirt. Not surprisingly, I looked down and saw her signature converse. "Hello."

Hinata's eyes met mine, she seemed a little shocked. "H-hello." she replied, and returned to the book she was reading. I looked closer, and saw that it was _Pride and Prejudice. _I loved Jane Austen, and sometimes wished that Ino would care about something more than clothes or who was dating to talk about books with me, but alas. It was sort of a secret that I was also into reading. Only Sasuke knew, and now he had forgotten.

I guess I could have tried striking up a conversation with Hinata about what she was reading, but I didn't bother. Obviously if I wanted to get closer to Sasuke I would have to get back into his (previously our) circle of friends. That didn't involve Hinata.

Also, I just didn't feel like talking to anyone. To my surprise, Kakashi hadn't entered the room yet. Was he always this late? I guess I never paid attention. I looked over at Ino to see that she was currently talking to Karin, Naruto, Kiba and Ami. Sasuke wasn't in this class, thankfully. I would have time to prepare to see him again.

I watched my old friends interact, and my confidence faded. Suddenly, everything seemed hopeless.

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><p>The rest of the day didn't go much better. I had four classes with Sasuke: AP Bio, AP Psychology, Calculus, and Government. I had Art IV too, but it was just a class I had been put into because of a scheduling conflict. Honestly, I was a little nervous. Last year I had been in French IV (probably the worst class ever, I suck at learning languages other than English for some reason, even if it's my fourth year). But now I was in art, and not just regular freshman art, but advanced art where all of the hardcore kids were.<p>

So I was a little intimidated.

I did, however, manage to snag a spot by Sasuke in Calculus. It didn't mean he actually talked to me, but it was a start. I would work on that.

Lunch turned out to be a whole new challenge of its own. I never realized how it feels to have nowhere to sit - it was like the story in this book I read once where this culture used to punish people by exile. They just completely stopped talking to them or acknowledging. It wasn't long until the exiled person died.

Okay, so maybe I didn't have it as bad, but it was still mortifying to realize that my usual spot by Ino and Sasuke was taken and I would have to join Hinata at her table (thankfully, Hinata was nice enough to let me sit by her). I sat there the whole time awkwardly as Hinata discussed some sort of art technique with her friend Tenten. Others at the table included Shino Aburame and Rock Lee.

"Hello, you're Sakura Haruno." Rock Lee said, just about as soon as I had sat down.

"Uh, yeah." I replied, not sure how to answer. At the time I couldn't remember his name. "What was your name again?"

Throughout the period, I found my attention turning to Sasuke, who was now smiling at something Naruto was saying. How was he going on without me? It was like I didn't even exist. I had to remind myself that I didn't - at least to him.

Art was a surprise. After a brief introduction, Deidara just told us to get to an easel and start sketching. He laid out a few items that included (but were not limited to) pictures of the hallway, scissors, one of those wooden dolls artists use, and a cow skull. Ew, is all I have to say to that last one. "This is just to give you more practice on shading and dimension before we start on the first project of the year." he had said, and then just tuned us loose.

Tentatively, I chose a vase with a single flower in it. It was pink, my favorite color. Really, how hard could this be?

"Sakura Haruno." Deidara was suddenly behind me.

I twitched a little, how did he get there so fast?

"I know you're new to this class," he said coolly, looking me over, "and I was reluctant to put you in, although there weren't any other options." He sighed, as if me being put into his class was a huge hassle. "But you've proven to be a good student, so I allowed it. I know you're not as advanced as the students in this class, but I expect you to work just as hard as them to keep up."

"Er, okay." I said, a little shocked. I never knew people actually took art this seriously. To me it had always seemed like just a hobby.

Deidara seemed to accept this response, because he nodded. "I'll evaluate your art at the end of class to get a feel of what level you're currently at."

_Good luck with that, _was all I could think. I had never actually tried drawing that much, besides when it was required and in doodles in the margins of my papers. Shrugging, I got to work.

It was actually really relaxing, just concentrating on the lines of the flower, and then the details once I had gotten the shape... it wasn't long before I was focused completely on my art. In the background, Deidara had turned on some sort of classical music in the background, I guess to help us concentrate.

"Okay, we have five minutes until the bell rings." Deidara said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Hinata looked over at my sketch of the flower - I hadn't even realized she had been beside me. "That looks good." She noted, to my surprise. "Is this your first time drawing?"

"Sort of." I replied, wondering if she really meant it. I had done some painting in my room as a hobby, but it was just out of boredom and because it relieved stress. I wondered, is that why I ended up in this class?

Deidara nodded, "Impressive, for someone with as much experience as you." He hesitated a little. "Obviously there's a lot of work to be done, but it's good enough for today."

To my surprise, after being praised by them, I immediately felt better.

I didn't talk to Sasuke much for the rest of the week. Well, I did sometimes, but all I got was a polite response before he returned to whatever else he was doing. This was strange for me - I was used to him being busy constantly, but whenever I needed something he would always put his work down and listen patiently.

I guess eight years of friendship would do that for you. Now that I had lost it, I was just like those other girls that were always trying to catch his attention.

God, I was just like Karin.

I realized, in the middle of peering at Sasuke sneakily throughout the day, that I would have to try harder. And in the meantime, I would have to start making friends.

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><p><strong>AN:** Okay, so here's the second chapter of my newest fanfiction! Yippee! Anyways, I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, I really appreciate it! You'll probably notice that Sakura is different in this one (as compared to my other fanfiction "The Promise")... haha.

As you can probably (maybe) tell, I don't know a lot about art, so if you find any wrong information, feel free to tell me! ;) I'm doing my best, but I might end up using wrong information/terminology at some point, so that would be appreciated. :)

Please tell me what you think!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Hey guys! Thank you so much for the reviews - they were amazing! :) Sorry it took so long to update, I've been really busy lately, but I shouldn't be for awhile. Anyway, I hope you like this next chapter, please review and tell me what you think!

Also, I would like to thank my beta uchiha.s!

**Update 6/17/15: **If anyone hasn't noticed, I'm still looking for a new Beta! If you're interested please PM me. :)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

* * *

><p>I found myself sitting at the same table at lunch everyday - the one that the artsynerdy/weird kids sat at. If I had told myself last year that I would be sitting here, I would have laughed and told myself to get lost. Now, I found myself sitting across from Hinata, and next to Tenten and Shino.

"Would you like to join the yearbook club?" Tenten asked enthusiastically at lunch. I noticed she was brandishing a rather large camera, one of the same kinds that I saw a lot of other kids walking around with last year. So that's what they were for.

"Sure," I said, surprising myself - normally I would never associate myself with unpopular people, but since it was another way I could get to Sasuke... "Why not?"

"Cool," replied Tenten, "we're having our first meeting after school. Don't be late." She walked away then, I guess planning to recruit some other people. One thing about Tenten was that she got really intense about things, which usually weirded people out even more than her obsession with sharp things, such as scissors and knives.

"That's great, Sakura!" Hinata said, who was observing our conversation from her seat across from me, "That looks really fun!" It had been two weeks since the first day of school, and I hadn't made any progress yet. If I could only remember what was going on (I mean, haven't I already lived through this year before?) I would be able to get invited to parties and stuff more easily. Or so I thought, so far I was about as unpopular as, well, the people I sat with at lunch.

I hoped that by joining the yearbook club I would have another way to get close to Sasuke. Sasuke was always getting his picture taken - our senior year he was voted Student Body President, Treasurer of the National Honor Society, and Valedictorian, not to mention he was on the football team and ran track, among other things. He was just too popular; practically untouchable now, although I didn't like to admit it.

I nodded, and picked at my mashed potatoes (courtesy of the school cafeteria). I missed talking to Ino. Hinata was nice, but it wasn't the same.

"I think I'm gonna go to art early." I stood up, picking up my tray with the lunch I had barely picked at. On my way to the trashcans, I ran into Ami - she was one of the popular girls (we were more of acquaintances when I was popular - now she hated my guts) and tripped over her foot that she put in my way. It was too bad I was a picky eater, because all of my half-eaten food spilled all over the front of my new blouse.

"Watch it, freak." Ami hissed, as she walked by. Why had I tolerated her before?

I heard faint giggling, until it spread and was magnified around me. I looked up, humiliated, to see the people nearby laughing outright. Trying not to cry, I flung the rest of the food that hadn't gotten on me into the trashcan, and fled.

I ended up in the bathroom again. Thankfully no one was there to see me tearing up and trying to clean the food off my shirt. _So this is what it's like to be friendless, _I thought dejectedly. It didn't feel good. I dabbed at my poor shirt with a wet paper towel, until it was a little bit better. There was still a stain, but it was faint. God, all I wanted was to get out of here and have my life back.

My mortification slowly turned to despair, as I realized that I was as unpopular as you can get. Worse, I was a _freak._ That was the word I saved for the worst people, and now I was one of them. Can you say irony?

"Sakura?" A familiar voice said hesitantly.

I jumped, and turned to see Hinata walking in hesitantly. "I saw what happened." She said. "Are you okay?"

I nodded, and put on a smile. I had always tried to keep a cool demeanor, and I wasn't going to stop now. "Yep, everything's great," I said, "just a little stain."

Hinata eyed the stain, looking worried. "Well, if you say so," she said, "by the way, the bell just rang. Do you want to go to Art?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that would be great."

Thankfully, only a few people laughed at me in the hallway.

* * *

><p>I had found that I actually liked Art. Deidara was strict, but it was a good kind of strict. I got to interpret my art in whichever way I wanted to, and I liked that about the class. Plus, with the day I was having, it was a great way to forget everything.<p>

"Good," Deidara said, nodding, "if I didn't know it Miss Haruno, I would say that you've taken a class like this before."

I was used to receiving compliments, but this was different. Normally I just did things because I wanted to be perfect. Now, I was just doing it to enjoy myself (well, in this class. Every other class got the pleasure of having me kick its butt. I was actually making A's in everything right now, I guess because I didn't really have anything to distract me. Like friends.)

I had Government after art, and then Calculus - classes I had with Sasuke, but that didn't seem to matter. In fact, after lunch I wasn't ready to see anyone, much less the ex-friend that I thought I was in love with.

Government passed by in a blur. I always sat in the back - no one from the lunch table was in this class, so I was by myself, not that anyone noticed. I was invisible now-well sort of. In the few weeks of school, I had managed to build a reputation of extreme clumsiness for myself, which is why I made sure to get to my classes early as to avoid the giggles when I walked into the room. Really, how had I become such a social pariah?

Calculus wasn't any better, even though I did sit by Sasuke. It only lasted a little under an hour, but I always felt more alert whenever he was nearby. Sometimes I liked to pretend to drop a pencil or ask him what the date was (childish things, but I was desperate) to get his attention, but today I only focused on the equations in front of me.

"Hey," a too-familiar voice said beside me, "did you get today's Government notes? I had to leave halfway through."

I looked over and saw Sasuke looking at me. He didn't look particularly interested in anything (not like he did whenever we were friends), in fact he looked kind of bored. Of course, that could be the math, but I chose not to think about it.

"Er, yeah." I said, and cursed myself internally for not saying something more interesting. _This is your chance, idiot. _I handed over my notes. "Naruto usually doesn't, right?" Naruto was also in the class with us, but he was always distracted.

To my surprise, Sasuke smiled a little, "No, he was too busy texting. Thanks." he added, when I handed him my notes.

As I waited for him to finish copying my notes, I kept wondering what Sasuke was thinking. Didn't he see me at lunch? Usually people like me were ignored or made fun of, not to be graced with the attention of Sasuke Uchiha.

But then again, Sasuke was always the polite one. That was part of the reason why so many people liked him, besides basically being perfect. I mean, come on, he was totally good-looking, smart, popular, _and _nice to just about everyone.

When he was finished with my notes, we didn't talk after that, but the interaction was enough to boost my spirits. Sasuke was polite enough that I could probably find some way to talk to him more...

Now all I had to do was get him to love me.

* * *

><p>"Sakura!" Tenten shouted. "Where do you think you're going!"<p>

I was only proceeding down the hallway, and had almost reached the door when the annoying brunette started shrieking at me. "What is it?" I asked.

"Yearbook club meeting, now!" She waved her camera around. "Get in here!"

Oh yeah, I had forgotten that I would show up for this thing. I sighed, and walked in the classroom.

The meeting was brief, thankfully. Tenten just explained that we would have to pay a ten dollar fee and get our parents to sign some form, and then we would get our cameras/assignments/blah. Whatever, as long as I had another excuse to talk to Sasuke, I couldn't really care less.

The next day, I found myself with a camera that I was renting from the school to take pictures of relevance for the yearbook. I was sort of psyched, but I didn't show it because I was already uncool enough.

"I want you to take pictures at the football game this Friday." Tenten instructed. "It's the first game, and I don't have anyone else who can document it."

Yes! I had an in! "I'll do it." I said.

"Cool," Tenten grinned, and began to instruct me how to use the camera. Even though she only wore her hair in those weird Princess Leia buns, I could tell she had the potential to look really cute.

* * *

><p>The game Friday started off normally, but I still had the feeling of deja vu. Something happened this game, I knew, but I just couldn't remember it. Why couldn't I have paid more attention last year? <em>This year, <em>I corrected myself.

Since I was taking pictures for the yearbook, I was allowed right next to the field and everything. Sasuke was on the team, so he was nearby too. What number was he again? I had never really liked football that much, I was just there to support my best friend who liked it for some reason. Ugh, whatever. I would find him.

From my position on the sidelines, I could see my old group of friends. They were at the front of the stands, talking to one another. I could see Ino showing Shikamaru something on her phone (he was too lazy to try out for the football team plus, like me, he didn't really care for football. Now that I thought about it, I missed him too) among them.

I ignored my feelings of not belonging, and focused on the game. I might as well take some pictures while I was at it. I managed to get a picture of the coaches, the football team waiting on the side, and a picture of the cheerleaders. Karin and Ami were among them, so I mainly avoided that area.

I watched the game with a mixture of boredom and frustration. The first time through high school, I had always gone to football games with a large group of people, and would spend the time there with Ino and Shikamaru, pretending I knew what was going on. Now, I stood neglected on the side taking pictures, while all the AV nerds walked around me with video cameras.

Shino was one of them. "Having fun?" He asked, surprising me. Shino wasn't one to talk very much. He must have sensed that I was desperate.

I rolled my eyes. "As fun as you can have watching a bunch of guys chase a ball around." I wasn't very sympathetic at the time.

He shrugged. "Sorry about that, see you around." He left to go teach a sophomore how to operate their equipment - something he'd already sworn he'd already done a few hours before.

It wasn't until the game was almost over that I finally saw Sasuke. He was running with the ball, and I found myself fixated on him. I missed him so much-

Someone from the other team tackled him (how did I miss that?), and Sasuke fell, landing on his arm wrong. They were close enough that I could hear the sickening crunch.

"Out of the way!" Someone shouted, once it was clear that Sasuke's arm was broken. "Let me through."

Oh yeah, that was what I couldn't remember. Sasuke had broken his arm in the first game, and it didn't heal until two games before they went to play-offs (Konoha High had a really great athletic department, and was always recognized for it. Sadly, other extracurriculars - like art, Hinata sometimes complained - were usually ignored).

I screamed when it happened, even though I didn't mean to. The first time I had been at the game, it had happened when Ino and I were in the bathroom. We had returned, and were informed of the news. I went to the hospital to visit Sasuke that night, too.

I wouldn't be doing that today. I watched helplessly as he was taken to the ambulance (Sasuke, stubborn as ever, insisted on walking, but he still had to ride in the emergency vehicle), and disappeared. For a second, it reminded me too much of the night he died, and I felt a little unsteady.

"Are you okay?" Shino was passing by, making his rounds to check if his little AV-ers were doing all right, "You look sick, Sakura."

I nodded, but I guess it wasn't reassuring to him, because he led me closer to the side and had be sit down on the track, "You'll probably feel better if you try to breath." He advised.

"Ha ha." I snapped back, kind of lamely. Images of Sasuke's body, barely functioning were still passing through my mind. _Stop it, _I thought, _it's not going to happen. He's okay now. _After taking a few deep breaths, I felt okay again.

"Better?" Shino asked.

"Yeah," I said, "thanks." He had only just met me, and he was really thoughtful. I thought back on whether I had talked to him this year, and only remembered thinking that he was weird.

He was still sort of weird, though.

* * *

><p>News of Sasuke's arm breaking had spread over the weekend so much that, the next Monday, I was hearing rumors of how he had to fight for his life on the field. Not that I cared, really. I was usually the one part of the rumors, not the one listening to them.<p>

I remembered this happening the first time. Sasuke hadn't let anyone sign his cast, thinking that if he did everyone in the whole school would want to and he would end up with a bunch of meaningless signatures on his arm for the next month or so. Instead, he had me paint a picture on it. It was a lot of fun - I had included a football, a small painting of us and our friends, and the NHS symbol.

From what I could tell, he just kept it blank this time.

"Sakura, these pictures... they're really bad." Tenten said bluntly when she went through the photos I had snapped during the game. "Well, except this one. Ooh, and this one! Nice!" I didn't understand Tenten most of the time.

I peered over her shoulder and saw a tiny picture of Naruto running on the camera screen. I didn't know much about photography, admittedly, but it was pretty good.

"I'll have to give you some picture-taking lessons before your next game," Tenten said, "but you're doing okay so far."

"My next game?" I asked.

"Yeah," Tenten said, "didn't I tell you? You're going to be documenting all of the games from now on."

I resisted the urge to groan.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **Okay, so first of all I would like to just say how sorry I am that it took so long for me to update! I've been so busy with school ending, and then I was away most of the summer, so I didn't have much time. Anyway, before everything starts again I'm going to try and update more. If you're still reading this, please review and tell me what you think. :) And thank you so much for the reviews, you guys are awesome!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

* * *

><p>"Aah!" I couldn't help shrieking when someone familiar and blond knocked into me.<p>

"Oof." Naruto hit the ground with a grunt. For a second, he sat stunned on the floor looking at me. I resisted telling him off, since we weren't exactly close anymore. "Sorry," he said, standing up, "I didn't see you there... are you new?" He blurted.

"No," I said, my patience waning now. It was now late September, and I had barely gotten anywhere on the Sasuke front. I mean, we had made it to conversational chatting during Calculus, but that was it.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki." He grinned, oblivious to my irritation. "What's your name?"

"Sakura Haruno," I replied, "I took your picture last week." Naruto had joined culinary arts (for reasons unknown to us all) and I had taken his picture for the school newspaper (a job that somehow went synonymously with working on the yearbook, and I had been chosen to take Naruto's picture for an article someone was writing about him - some people can't get enough of the football players).

"Oh yeah!" He said. "That was you!"

I sighed. "What were you doing, anyway?"

Naruto looked dubious. "I was going to see if I could catch a football that Kiba was going to throw down the hallway - good practice for when we're trying to dodge people on the field."

"Yeah, but it's sort of a hazard to everyone else." I said, automatically rubbing my arm. It was starting to throb from where Naruto had knocked into me.

"Sorry about that," Naruto apologized, "I guess I didn't think-"

"You never think." To my surprise (and utter delight) Sasuke had appeared, and rapped Naruto on the head with his knuckles. They were roughly the same height (taller than me), but Sasuke seemed leaner, less muscular. I couldn't keep my eyes off of him, though. _If only I realized this before the accident._

"Hey!" Naruto scowled for a second, before his face brightened again. "Look at the new friend I just made! Her name's Sakura!"

Sasuke looked at me for the first time in awhile. "I'm sorry for my friend." He said, looking exasperated. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Not at all," I said. "I ran into her!" Naruto said at roughly the same time.

Sasuke eyed us for a moment, and then shrugged. "Naruto," he said, "I came to find you. We're having a team meeting in five minutes."

"See ya, Sakura!" Naruto called as he and Sasuke walked down the hallway. I wondered why they got to skip when I still had to go to AP Biology. Some people got all the luck.

To my dismay, Sasuke didn't say anything else to me. Not that it was surprising anymore, really.

The bell rang right as I stepped into the classroom. I liked Biology okay; Tenten was in it with me, so I always had a lab partner. Sadly, Ino and Shikamaru were in it too (as well as Sasuke and Naruto, but they weren't there. Obviously.) but we didn't talk. I was still recovering from the cafeteria humiliation that everyone that mattered witnessed (well, I wasn't sure about Sasuke, but still, it was mortifying).

However, I was making up for it. I would always make some sort of effort to catch Sasuke's eye in any of the classes we had together. I tried to draw on the techniques I used on Kiba last time (before I realized that he was a huge jerk... or at least, started acknowledging it) - things that included waking up early to perfect my hair and make-up and make sure I had something nice to wear everyday. He had to like that, right? Besides, doing that made me feel like I had at least some control in my new life.

* * *

><p>"Hey." I said halfheartedly, taking my seat next to Sasuke in calculus. Seeing him today had made me realize, once again, how hard I would have to work at getting him to like me again.<p>

Sasuke nodded, already working on an equation - sometimes he would get so immersed in something that it would be hard to get his attention.

"How's your arm?" I persisted. When we first became friends, I used to just keep talking until he would stop with whatever he was so intense about and answer me. Sometimes I still did it.

Sasuke looked up at me, and then at his wrist, which was still in a cast. "It's okay," he said, "the doctor said it wasn't a clean break so it's going to be in a cast longer, but that's okay." Sasuke shrugged; I noticed he hadn't started working on the equation again. I also noticed that he hadn't let anyone sign his cast yet. Or draw on it.

"For how long?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer. Anything to keep him talking to me.

"At least six weeks," Sasuke said, "but it could change, depending on how everything is healing."

I had to stop talking then, because our calculus teacher, Azuma, started lecturing.

It was Wednesday, so I had to go to another one of Tenten's yearbook club meetings. She had recruited a few more people in the last week, which included two freshmen (they seemed too intimidated by Tenten to really do anything, though) and Hinata, who just turned up.

"Okay," Tenten said, eying all of us, "I need someone to be in charge of taking pictures for the girls basketball..." I stopped listening after that - who cares about basketball when I'm so busy trying to get Sasuke's attention?

Now, what could I say to Sasuke that would make him talk to me that didn't sound stalkerish? This was surprisingly hard, since I knew him so well that I was used to just blurting out anything in his presence. Thankfully I hadn't had anymore slip-ups since the first day-

"Sakura," Tenten huffed, "are you even paying attention?"

"Yes!" I replied indignantly.

"What was I saying just now?"

"Er... you were just about to tell me to take pictures for something?" It was a shot in the dark, admittedly, but I didn't really care whether I looked dumb in front of _these people. _Unlike the popular crowd (my old friends), I could get away with looking idiotic and they wouldn't judge me.

There were a few snickers from the newer members, but Tenten glared at them. "As I was saying," she said, "the homecoming dance is in a few weeks and we need to figure out who's going to cover it. Since I'm on the Dance Committee I am, unfortunately, unavailable. Does anyone volunteer to document the homecoming dance? It's a very important task."

Everyone looked around nervously - except Hinata, who seemed used to Tenten's antics by now. I wondered if Tenten had always acted this weird, or if it was a stage she would grow out of.

One of the freshmen raised their hands, like they couldn't take the pressure of Tenten's gaze on them anymore. Luckily, the rest of us were dismissed so Tenten could discuss the picture taking for the dance in more detail.

"Is she always this obsessive?" I whispered to Hinata on our way out of the classroom where the meeting had taken place.

"As long as I've known her," Hinata admitted, "she's really not that bad once you get to know her better."

We walked together chatting to the parking lot. To my surprise, Neji Hyuga was staring at us and leaning against a car. I was about to ask what his problem was, when Hinata nervously said, "That's my ride - I should probably go now. See you tomorrow, Sakura!"

I gaped as Hinata got into the car with Neji and drove away, thinking about how stupid I was. Of course - Hinata and Neji were cousins! I just forgot about it because they were never around each other. Even though they were related, Neji was mostly present with the popular group (in fact, I had hung out with him a lot before - he was okay, but pretty quiet), while Hinata only associated herself with the nerdier people like Tenten. If I had thought of it earlier, I could have been getting closer to Hinata to get to Neji... which would get me to Sasuke! Right?

Okay, I admit it was a stretch, but I was desperate!

The next day, I cornered Hinata in the hallway, "Hey Hinata," I said, "wanna go shopping or something?"

At first Hinata looked stunned. I mean, I'll admit I've been so preoccupied that I haven't exactly made an effort to hang out with my new "friends" outside of school or anything. Okay, so I thought I would have already gotten my old friends back by then, but that doesn't matter. "O-okay." Hinata stammered a bit. She must have been surprised. Back in elementary school Hinata had a stuttering problem that she had to go take special classes for. It didn't go away until the summer before we all started middle school. Now it only came out when she was caught off guard.

"Cool," I replied, trying to sound nonchalant, "I'll come pick you up tomorrow!" To my surprise, it was hard not to sound excited. I hadn't gone shopping with someone in so long (I had done it plenty of times alone), and just the thought of having someone to talk to made me feel strangely happy. I guess I hadn't realized that I had missed hanging out with people in so long.

The next day, I ended up at the mall with Hinata.

"Yay, I found it!" I cried, snagging a familiar green dress off a rack. I had bought the dress last year, and it had been one of my favorites - it made my eyes pop.

Hinata seemed uncomfortable, probably because she was out of her comfort zone (which I would assume would be staying home and reading or doing other boring stuff). "C'mon, Hinata!" I said, handing her a few items. "Try these on, I have a feeling they'll look great on you."

After about half an hour of forcing her to try on different pieces, Hinata seemed to open up. "Thanks for doing this, Sakura." Hinata said, looking at her reflection - this time, she was trying on a lavender dress I had found.

"No problem," I said, "what are friends for?" My response made me stop for a moment. Was I friends with Hinata now? I guess I had always assumed that after I became friends with Sasuke and everyone again, I would just ditch the losers I was hanging out with now.

Thinking about it some more, I realized that I didn't want to stop being friends with Hinata. Unlike some of my old friends/acquaintances, she didn't care how I dressed.

"What do you think?" Hinata said, and twirled around. The dress shimmered in the light, turning different shades of light purple and blue.

"I think it suits her, don't you?" Konan said.

I shrieked, and then realized that Hinata wouldn't have heard me. My new friend was now frozen in place. "You have to stop doing that," I told the woman/witch/thing, "you're going to give me a heart attack!"

"I see you've made some new friends." Konan smiled that unearthly smile - I realized that her eyes were a glassy blue.

"I had to," I snapped, "since you've made everyone forget about me. I thought you said that it would only be Sasuke!"

She only smiled. "You're running out of time, you know."

"Don't remind me." I groaned, feeling like I wanted to sink into the floor.

"What?" Hinata said, eying me - I realized that Konan had disappeared.

"Nothing," I said hastily, "that dress looks great. Get it."

We continued like that for the rest of the day, and I learned a lot about Hinata in the process. Like how her father had a twin brother (Neji's father), and they were both heirs to Hinata's grandfather's large corporation. There was always some tension, though, about how Hinata's father was the favored one.

"Neji and I are trying to get to know each other better now," Hinata admitted, "we decided that to avoid our father's mistakes, we shouldn't spend our lives hating each other." It also kind of helped that their father's were becoming closer, too.

I also figured out something very interesting - Hinata totally had a crush on Naruto. Of course, she didn't admit it to me, but I could tell that she did by the way she blushed whenever he was brought up. I made a mental note to help get them together at the end of the year. If I couldn't be with Sasuke, then at least I could help Hinata.

* * *

><p>"Tenten," I said, "what's going on?"<p>

My brunette friend and I were staring at a rather odd occurrence happening in the hallway - Sasuke and Karin were walking and... holding hands?

"Are they going out?" I blurted - I couldn't help myself! Leave it to Karin to mess up everything!

Tenten nodded, "They started dating this weekend; he asked her. Basically all of the girls in the school are devastated - including you, it looks like." She was always one to state the obvious.

I shook my head, "I've got to go."

Before I could do something stupid - like cry, again, why was I always crying? - I ran into the art room. Thankfully, only Deidara was inside, and he only nodded as I pulled out the acrylics we were working with.

As I painted, I imagined Sasuke asking out Karin - _Karin_! What hurt the most was that it could have been me - it was me - but I broke his heart.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **Hey guys! I think this might be a record for my updating time. :) Thanks so much for the reviews! Like I said, I'm trying to update as much as possible before I start school again, and even then I'll try to keep updating regularly. If there are any huge inconsistency/grammar errors in this chapter, feel free to tell me. And please tell me what you think, possibly in the form of a review? Thanks!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

* * *

><p>I lost myself in my artwork. Once I got my supplies I was painting harsh streaks of red on the canvas in front of me. As I worked, I tried not to think about what I had just seen. <em>He doesn't know you anymore, <em>I thought, _Sasuke wouldn't date Karin if he still did. You _know _that. _That trail of thought only made me feel like hiding in the bathroom and crying again, so instead I formed a mental image of Karin and painted out what I was feeling.

Sometimes, when I was on the verge of a mental breakdown (which didn't happen much my high school career - I was usually pretty composed) I would focus on what I was going to do that week. I would plan it down to every detail, to what I would wear, when I would go running - trivial things to keep my mind off of what was really bothering me. I never cried in front of anyone. I _hate _crying.

I hate feeling weak.

"That's, er, a nice painting Sakura." Hinata said before we left. "It's really bright."

I looked at my artwork for a second - admittedly, I hadn't been paying much attention to what I was painting. The red streaks were still there, mixed with bursts of orange and black. It wasn't very attractive.

I shrugged, imagining that I looked unfazed. "Yeah, it's still a work in progress. What are you painting, Hinata?"

Hinata quickly hid her painting. "It's a surprise," she grinned, "you can't look yet."

Deidara hadn't given us much of an assignment today. "Just... experiment with the paint and don't break anything." He had said, pinching the bridge of his nose. There had been a rumor that Deidara got these intense migraines because he was such a genius - was that what was happening now?

Realizing that I didn't really care, I said, "Show me when you're done then." Hinata probably painted a flower or something - she was a nice girl, but she really was predictable.

It was hard trying to talk to Sasuke in Calculus, but I did it. I had thought a lot while I was painting - I shouldn't be mad at Sasuke for not remembering me. It had been _because _of me that he couldn't remember, so I couldn't just blame him for it. Although I could target my rage at Karin...

It started when I noticed he was having a hard time writing. Of course! Sasuke was right-handed and he had broken his right arm! I had to force him to let me take notes for him last year because he was so stubborn.

Before class ended, I said. "Do you want me to make you copies of my notes?" I tried not to sound too hopeful, just in case.

Sasuke looked up from where he had been writing slowly (something that he had confessed was very irritating, I might add), and said, "No thanks, I have my own way of taking notes - anything else would be too confusing." That, or he was just really anal about how he organizes his stuff.

I was one step ahead of him. "Like this?" I held up my notes to show him. Last year, for this very reason, I had adapted Sasuke's note-taking and made it my own. Doing it now was only a lucky habit.

Sasuke smirked a little. "Yeah," he said. "That's good. Thank you."

I promised to make him copies after school so he could use them the next day.

* * *

><p>When I got home, I cried. I couldn't help myself. After being repressed, thoughts about Sasuke choosing Karin instead of me overwhelmed me and before I knew it I was sobbing openly in my room.<p>

Thankfully, my parents had decided to go out to dinner, so it was just me. As far as I could tell, they had forgotten that I had been friends with Sasuke, too. The only one who remembered was me, and maybe not even for very long. I would die soon, I realized, if I didn't get him to love me.

_And would it be better for him? _I thought, miserably, _if he was stuck with me? _I had acted like a total bitch the last time I had spoken to him at that party. Maybe he would be better off if he didn't remember me, and got to live the rest of his life with girls that would treat him well. Love him at the same time, even.

Of course, I didn't mean Karin, but...

I sat on my bed, feeling horrible. What was it that Sasuke saw in me that made him like me before? It wasn't like I had really changed, had I? What had made him love me, when all he did was look right through me now? I honestly couldn't think about it.

After I had cried myself out, I felt hollow - the shell of someone who had once been happy, but not anymore. I sat on my bed, silently, gazing at the pink walls of my room. God, I felt shallow. Had I always acted this way?

It was then that I made a decision: I was done pretending. Done with trying to make people like me - how had that worked out for me lately? Not very well. At least, not with the people that I had been trying to impress. I would work on being a better person - nicer. If this was going to be the last year of my life then, dammit, I wouldn't be the jerk who broke my best friend's heart.

I wouldn't stop trying to be Sasuke's friend. I had to make it up to him somehow - the guilt I felt about that night. But now that I wasn't trying to save my life, I could stop focusing on how I looked (even though it was still important to some extent) and if I was being flirty enough.

I would be his friend. Somehow. I could give him that, and if this was the last months that I would live, I think I deserved that much. I could afford some selfishness, at least.

As much as I hated seeing Sasuke with Karin, at least he was happy.

* * *

><p>The next day, I looked different. I didn't wake up early to fix my make-up and hair. I didn't plan my outfit the night before, and I didn't try to come up with new ways to talk to Sasuke when I was supposed to be doing something else (like listening to what Tenten was saying).<p>

"Sakura," Tenten said when she saw me, "you look... different."

"Yeah." I shrugged. "I just got tired of making an effort, you know? Senioritus, I guess."

Tenten gave me a funny expression, and then continued with what she was going to say. "Look, I'm sorry about this, but can you take the homecoming pictures at the dance this weekend? The freshmen I assigned to manage it flaked out at the last minute. Please?"

If she had asked the person I was last year, I would have said no. I would have said it so rudely that she would have wished that she hadn't said anything. I didn't even want to do it this year - the homecoming dance, although I had enjoyed it in the past few years, held no appeal to me anymore now that I didn't have the same group of friends. In fact, I was just planning on staying home and watching some sappy movies instead.

Instead, I said. "Yeah, okay."

Tenten's face lit up, and I realized that she was really pretty. Why hadn't I noticed that before? "Thank you so much, Sakura! I owe you for this!" She disappeared in the hallway after that, leaving me to go to my first period alone.

* * *

><p>"What does your dress look like for the homecoming dance, Ino?" Ami asked my former best friend (even though she didn't know it) in Biology.<p>

Ino described what I remembered was her dress from last year - a pretty, short dark blue dress. That had been the night that she had started dating Shikamaru. I would miss that this year, too. "I just hope Kiba doesn't forget to get a corsage." Ino sighed.

"Oh yeah, you're going with him, right?" Ami looked suddenly interested. She was always a gossiper.

"Yeah." Ino replied. "He asked me last week. Anyway, what does your dress look like?"

Kiba? Ino was supposed to go with Shikamaru! That was how they got together! And Kiba was a jerk, anyway. I should know, I dated him for half the year.

Shikamaru, who was sitting on Ino's other side, looked uncaring. I wonder who he was going with - or if he was even going to go, since Ino had ended up dragging him along. This was also strange, I had thought that all of the things that had happened last year (like Sasuke breaking his arm) would occur the second time around too.

"Are you going to the dance, Shikamaru?" Ami asked my other former friend.

Shikamaru looked at her like she was crazy. "And spend time in a room full of idiots? Nah."

I scoffed - typical Shikamaru. It was weird, last year he was crazy about Ino and now he seemed uncaring. Jealousy, maybe? I had been the only person who knew Shikamaru liked Ino for years, and that was just because I had to pester it out of him. Ino hadn't even known - she had just taken Shikamaru to the homecoming dance last year because she couldn't find anyone else that she wanted to go with.

"That's it!" I hissed, startling Hinata, who was working intensely on a worksheet beside me.

"What?" Hinata said.

"Hinata," I replied, "I have a brilliant plan that I need your help with." If I could pull this off, I would be one step closer to befriending Ino and Shikamaru. And closer to Sasuke. Plus, if everything worked out, I could get Hinata and Naruto together. This was perfect!

"What does it entail?" She asked dubiously. We had gotten to know each other better the past couple of weeks, and I had realized that Hinata wasn't weird and quiet - just shy. She opened up to me after spending more time together, and now I wondered why I hadn't realized how awesome she was before.

"Help me with homecoming photos," I begged, "and I promise that you won't regret it. Come on Hinata, _please_?"

"I guess I can," Hinata said, "it's not like I have anything better planned."

I filled her in on my plan for the rest of the class period. I could tell Hinata was a little confused at what I was insisting on doing, but willing to help nonetheless. It was nice to have someone who trusted you so much. She reminded me of Ino so much.

After school, I found Shikamaru where he normally was - at his locker, waiting for Ino. He used to wait for me, but I pushed that painful memory to the side hastily. Now wasn't the time for me to be getting emotional.

"Hey." I said.

Shikamaru turned around lazily, his eyes widening a little when he saw me. "Hey," he said, a little unsure, "you're in my biology class, right?" I didn't bother to remind him that we were in Calculus together too.

"Yep!" I said. "We argued about mitosis the other day."

He looked uncomfortable, which wasn't surprising. Shikamaru had a close circle of friends that he didn't like disturbed; I would have to get my point across quickly if I wanted him to focus. "I heard you aren't going to the homecoming dance," I began, "would you like to go together?"

He looked a little wary. I couldn't blame him, it wasn't like we talked that much anymore, but he had to say yes. "Er," he said, "I think I might have something-"

"Liar." I interrupted him. "Look, I know you like Ino and don't want to see her going to homecoming with that jerk, Kiba." He couldn't argue with that. "Don't you think she needs a friend to make sure she's okay? I heard he tries to feel up girls on the first date." It was the second really (I should know, and no I did not let him), but it had my desired effects. Shikamaru looked like he was actually thinking about it.

"Just come with me." I said, trying not to sound like I was pleading. "I'll be taking pictures for most of the time anyway."

"Okay." Shikamaru sounded exasperated. "I don't... I mean, I don't usually go to dances. But, I'll do it."

Yes! "Cool." I said, hoping I seemed nonchalant. "You don't even have to pick me up or anything - I'll be there really early setting up. Just save me a dance, okay?" If my plan went well, he would be too busy dancing with Ino.

"Fine." He sighed.

I began to walk away, but then turned back around. "I'm wearing red. Try to coordinate your outfit with mine!"

He gave me another wary look, but I didn't care. For once, I was taking control of this hellhole - and it was working.

* * *

><p>That Friday, I didn't have to document the game - Tenten had one of the newer members, a girl named Matsuri, do it. Instead, I was decorating the gym with about ten other people who were part of the Dance Committee.<p>

Thankfully, I had Hinata with me to help set up my camera equipment near the entrance. It was fun, surprisingly. Once we had finished deciphering the various cords and installed everything successfully, Hinata and I started to help the others, who were grateful for our assistance.

The dance was decorated in our school colors - silver and black - with streamers and food-laden (well, junk food) tables with black table cloths.

"Everything is going according to plan." I said, as I stapled a particularly stubborn silver streamer to the wall. "Now I just need to make sure Shikamaru and I match..."

"Good luck with that, Sakura." Hinata shook her head, handing me a decorative star to slap on over the streamer.

"How much more of these are there?" I demanded, brandishing another paper star.

Hinata surveyed her stack of the glittery decorations. "Maybe twenty?"

I sighed. "I never realized how much work was put into these things. I never help out with this."

"Me either." Hinata confided. "I usually just stay at home."

"It'll be fun." I promised.

She smiled. "Thanks, Sakura."

We continued to staple those blasted stars one by one on the walls, until Hinata's stack disappeared. It didn't look bad - in fact, I'd say we did a pretty good job.

"Ooh, Sakura!" One of the freshmen on the Dance Committee said. "That looks really good!"

"Thanks." I winked.

It was almost time for the dance to start, so I dragged Hinata into the bathroom where we changed into our dresses. Mine was a strapless red dress that reached my knees, and I left my hair down. Hinata's was off-the-shoulder and black (I had talked her into that one), which made her look elegant in ways that I knew I couldn't pull off.

"Does it look okay?" She sounded nervous.

"Hinata, you look great." I assured her. "Now come here, I need to do your hair."

I fixed Hinata's hair into an updo - something simple to compliment her dress. After that I did her make up, making her unusual eyes stand out. Hinata looked beautiful - why hadn't I seen it before?

After adjusting my own make-up, I declared us ready to go. We ditched our old clothes back at my car, and then made our way back into the gymnasium, where the Dance Committee was running around in a panic, making last-minute adjustments to decorations, lighting, etc. Hinata and I took our places at our station, preparing for people to arrive.

At first, they just trickled in awkwardly, like a tiny stream of water. Then, after a few minutes, they started arriving in hoards. It was hard to imagine that I was one of those people last year - fitting in, with a large number of friends. In a way, I missed it. I missed Sasuke, and I missed Ino and Shikamaru. But I was glad I had Hinata, and Tenten (even if we didn't get along all the time).

I didn't realize how busy I would be, taking everyone's picture. There were a lot of couples, but some people just wanted pictures with their friends. "Smile!" I said, for what felt like the seventieth time - even though Hinata assured me that it had only been twenty minutes - and snapped a picture of a group of girls.

"So," Shikamaru showed up suddenly behind me, "is this what you're going to be doing all night?"

"Hopefully not!" I grinned. I had been wondering if he was actually going to come. "You're late, by the way." I noticed that Shikamaru didn't quite match with me - he was wearing a sort of burgundy tie - but it was close. I appreciated the effort.

"Sorry." Shikamaru didn't sound apologetic. "I sort of... forgot."

Of course. "Well, at least you're here now." I said.

"Have we met before?" Shikamaru said, suddenly.

"We've had classes together since middle school." I said, adjusting the focus on my camera. "Why?"

"I dunno." Shikamaru said. "I can't describe it."

Did he remember me from before? I never got to think of a tactful way to ask, because Ino and Kiba approached us, wanting a picture. Ino, to my delight, didn't look like she was enjoying herself. Perfect, now all I had to do was get Kiba to go away...

"Just take the picture." Ino said tiredly, standing next to Kiba. He put his arm around her shoulders, but awkwardly.

After I took the picture, she realized that Shikamaru was standing next to me. "Shikamaru!" Ino brightened. "I didn't know you were coming!"

"I wasn't." Shikamaru said. "Sakura sort of forced me."

I glared at him. "We're going as friends." I told her. _Don't mind me, _I thought.

Ino eyed me. It was strange - like she had just realized I was there. Sort of the same way Shikamaru had looked at me earlier that week. I pretended to be looking at pictures I had already taken while Ino whispered something to Shikamaru. "Save me," she said, "please. Kiba's getting on my last nerve."

I didn't even bother to pretend that I wasn't eavesdropping. "You know, Shikamaru." I said, feeling smug. "I'm probably going to be this busy all night. You should go dance with Ino."

"Well, if you're sure you'll be okay." Shikamaru looked more interested in the prospect of doing anything with Ino than anything else. I was glad I talked him into coming.

Ino sort of ditched Kiba after that. Not that he seemed to care, really. My ex-boyfriend (could I still call him that when, technically, we hadn't actually gone out yet?) ended up hitting on a freshman girl who seemed enthralled by him.

"Stage one of the plan complete." I whispered to Hinata as I watched Ino and Shikamaru slow-dancing. Soon, they would be a couple thanks to me. Hopefully, I could befriend them soon.

I turned back to my camera, feeling proud of myself. I loved being a matchmaker, and doing it for my friends when they didn't even know it was thrilling, in a way. Although, I sort of wished they still knew who I was.

"Hurry up!" Someone gripped at me. I looked up, to see Karin and Sasuke (who looked bored, I noticed) standing in front of me.

Damn. In my haste to put Ino and Shikamaru together, I had forgotten about this - Sasuke would be here. "Smile." I said, halfheartedly, and took their picture. Karin smiled a little too cutely, and Sasuke just smirked.

I watched Karin drag Sasuke off to the dance floor after the picture, and I felt my heart sink as I watched them slow dance. Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to my camera. I had managed to get closer to befriending Shikamaru, and maybe Ino. I would just have to work harder.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **Hey guys! Thanks so much for the reviews! Here's the next chapter, and please tell me what you think. :) I love constructive criticism!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto

* * *

><p>"I'll go get us something to drink." I told Hinata who, like me, had been busily snapping away at photos of other couples throughout the night. After about an hour and a half, I wanted to get away from it for a few minutes.<p>

Hinata nodded, and sat down in one of the crappy cafeteria chairs provided helpfully by one of the freshman helping out at the dance. Thankfully, the number of people arriving was slowly dwindling, and we were only getting the occasional group or couple.

I made my way through the crowd, making sure to stay near the edge so I wouldn't get caught in masses of dancing freshmen - who honestly just looked like they were flailing, but whatever. Finally, I reached the refreshment table, which would have began to look sparse if it wasn't for the Dance Committee. They really did work hard.

Before I could reach the table, however, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to see Naruto, who was grinning at me.

"Hey, you're Sakura right?" He looked as enthusiastic as ever.

"Yeah." Despite my usual annoyance with him, I couldn't help smiling back. I really did miss Naruto, I guess I just never thought about it until now.

"I'm sorry for running into you in the hallway." He said earnestly. "I never got a chance to apologize for that." I was automatically reminded of why everyone liked Naruto - he was nice to everyone. And I mean _everyone._

"It's fine." I shrugged. "Really, don't worry about it."

Before he got a chance to reply, Ami appeared beside him. "So that's where you went." She snapped. "I've been looking everywhere for you." She noticed me, and narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing talking to my date, freak?"

"Ami-" Naruto started to say.

"Ugh, forget it. If you care more about your friends than me, this is over." Ami looked a little tipsy - I guess she had been drinking before she came to the dance.

Naruto didn't seem fazed. "Hey, I'm gonna go talk to Sasuke," he said, "but save me a dance, okay?"

I agreed - what could go wrong with that? Besides, I had been working hard all night, I could afford to have some fun.

While I was getting some punch for Hinata and me (after making sure it hadn't been spiked - I had never liked the taste of alcohol), I realized something - Ami had been Naruto's girlfriend for awhile last year, and he had been miserable. Now that I remembered it, they had definitely been going out for longer than until the homecoming dance. Was I meddling with things too much? Did it matter?

"Thank you so much." Hinata said, taking the cup of punch I handed to her.

"Thanks for helping me tonight." I replied, taking a seat next to her. The demand for photos was slowly diminishing, and we sat watching couples dance to a slow song. For a second, I felt lonely. I hadn't even come close to getting Sasuke, but then again, I had Hinata. Feeling this lonely was new to me, because I had always had Sasuke-

"Hey guys." Tenten showed up, grinning.

"I was wondering where you were." Hinata smiled.

"Someone left their camera equipment back at the game, so we had to go back for it." Tenten rolled her eyes. "Not to mention how I had to put on this stupid thing to look presentable." She indicated the dress she was wearing - light blue, and to her knees. It wasn't flattering, but it wasn't bad either. I made a mental note to get her to let me dress her next time. And get rid of those side buns.

"So how is it?" Tenten asked us briskly.

"It's going well." I answered, still sipping my drink. "I'm just glad the worst is over with."

Tenten immediately started going through the pictures I had already taken. "Not bad," she said, "I taught you well."

I took that as a compliment.

Tenten joined us for a few more minutes, and the left to go check on the Dance Committee and see if they needed any help. Hinata and I watched the dance for awhile, even singing along to some of the songs we knew. I was so caught up in it, that I didn't notice that Naruto had appeared beside us.

"You promised me a dance." He reminded me. Oh yeah.

I stood up, getting ready to go with him, when I realized something else. Hinata was still sitting in her chair, a pleasant smile on her face. I had forgotten, in my haste to make Shikamaru and Ino get together, that I had promised that Hinata would have fun. She did look happy, but would it really be a memorable night?

"Look," I said to Naruto, "see that girl? You should dance with her. I promise, you won't be disappointed. She's really nice."

Naruto shrugged. "If you say so, Sakura."

I giggled as Naruto pulled Hinata onto the dance floor without hesitating, and how she blushed and gave me an "I'm going to kill you" look. Whatever, I saw the way she looked at him in the hallway. Did she think I was oblivious?

Satisfied, I sat back down - alone now - and watched my former best friends, and my new best friend dance. It was a slow dance again, and Ino and Shikamaru were still together. It looked like Naruto had gotten Hinata talking, and they looked wrapped up in a conversation while they danced. Sometimes, last year, I would dance with Sasuke, and all we would do was talk. In fact, I could see him nearby, still dancing with Karin. He looked... happy I guess. I wished I knew what he was thinking.

Suddenly, I felt overcrowded. It was like the room was burning up and I had to go outside and get some air. I stood up, ignoring the head rush, and got to the door as fast as I could without looking like an idiot. Once I was outside the gym, I sat down on the pavement, ignoring what it might have done to my dress. The air was cool and crisp, on the borderline of cold - October weather - and I could still hear traces of the music from the inside of the gym.

I wondered if I would ever get to talk to the real Sasuke again, if I did fail. Were the memories he had of us lost forever, or were they just hidden away? If I did succeed, would he remember me again?

"Having fun?" An all-too-familiar voice said beside me.

As always, I was startled. "Why do you have to do that?" I said to Konan, who was now sitting beside me on the sidewalk.

She only smiled at me. It was a mysterious smile, but it looked different - she looked like she was pleased. "It was commendable of you for what you did for your friends."

I shrugged. "It's not like I stepped in front of a gun for them or anything."

"I noticed you haven't been trying as hard to gain Sasuke's favor." Konan continued, ignoring my response. "Whatever for, Sakura?"

It would be stupid of me to lie, so I told the truth. "I thought about it," I began, "and I'm not even sure if I deserve him - if he would be happier without me. I was his friend before, but I ended up treating him like crap. If I did succeed in this... who's to say that it wouldn't happen again? I want Sasuke to be happy." I felt my voice break, feeling stupid.

"What do you plan on doing?" Konan asked. I couldn't tell what she was thinking - the tone of her voice was devoid of emotion.

"I want to be his friend." I answered. "I can't stay away from him completely, but I'm going to stop trying so hard to be... well, flirty. I just want him to talk to me as a friend again. I can't bear it."

"You have a little over seven months." The witch/fairy/whatever-the-heck-she-was said, and then she was gone.

I reached up to wipe a tear that had been making a trail down my cheek. I hadn't realized I had started crying - talking about Sasuke did that to me these days.

I sat there for a while longer, listening to the muffled beat of whatever song the DJ was playing now. I wondered if Hinata and Naruto were still dancing - hoped, was more like it. I could give Hinata a good year, and have fun along the way.

Surprisingly, not being popular had taken a lot of stress off of me. I didn't have to worry about malicious girls gossiping behind my back despite calling me their "friend". I didn't have to worry about dressing up everyday to impress a certain group of people. Sure, it wasn't like no one disliked me - obviously Karin didn't - but there was less pressure. I liked that part of my situation.

The sound of a door slamming startled me, and I turned my head just in time to see Sasuke walking out of it. I watched him take the same path I had minutes before, and take a seat on the street curb.

"Er, hey there." I said, and then internally cursed myself. _'Hey there?' You deciding to become friends with him does not give you an excuse to start talking weird._

Sasuke, for once, looked surprised to see me there. I guess he hadn't been paying attention. "Sorry," he said after a moment, "I didn't realize that anyone else was out here."

I moved in closer, daringly, and said. "It's fine. Having a rough night?"

Sasuke shrugged. "It could be better."

"I know what you mean." I replied. "I've been taking pictures all night - talk about boring." At that point, I was saying anything just to make him keep talking to me. The yearning I felt at that moment just to speak to him was all-consuming.

He nodded. "It must be hard work."

"It wasn't that bad," I said, "sometimes it can even be fun."

"You helped with the yearbook club pictures too, right?" I couldn't believe it, he was actually making conversation with me. Well, at least, responding to what I was saying. That was good, right?

"Yep!" I said enthusiastically. If it was one thing I was proud of, it was my photography. Oh, and my art. Who knew that all it took to get hobbies besides shopping was losing all of my previous friends? "You were in a lot of them, I noticed."

He said something about being Student Body President (which he had been elected as - a landslide vote. I didn't even know why anyone would even try to run against him to be honest) and being involved in a lot of activities to support the school.

"And you're planning on going to Harvard in the fall, right?" I remembered him being so excited about getting accepted last year. Well, excited for Sasuke.

He gave me an odd, sideways look. "How did you know about that?" Oops, I had forgotten that he had kept that a secret until the spring semester.

"I think I heard Naruto talking about it." I replied quickly. Too quickly. He was suspicious now - I hoped that I didn't come across as a stalker. I didn't think about it much, but some girls did end up getting a little... attached to Sasuke.

"So why are you out here?" I changed the subject hastily.

"Things were getting a little... too intense." Sasuke said. For once, he sounded normal - like we were still friends.

"I know what you mean." I sighed. "I just needed a break from it all."

He nodded. "Naruto told me that Shikamaru was your date?"

I smiled, pleased that he knew that. "Well, yeah," I admitted sheepishly, "but I was only doing that so he would end up dancing with Ino instead of that jerk Kiba."

"He is a jerk, isn't he?" Sasuke was staring out across the street to the football stadium. His arm was still in a cast - it would only be a few weeks until it came off and he would have enough time to help the team win the first playoff game.

"Yep." I said again. I couldn't think of what else to say. What could I say that wouldn't make me look like I knew too much about him?

Unfortunately, he stood up after that. "I should probably get back." Sasuke said.

I nodded, "I should too. People need pictures, you know." The corner of his mouth twitched at that, and I felt a jolt of happiness.

We walked back in together, but split up once we stepped through the door. "I'll see you on Monday." I told him, before I returned to my place in the corner. He only nodded - the music was too loud.

Hinata wasn't back, I noticed, as I adjusted my camera. When I looked at the crowd, I could see her and Naruto, barely dancing to a slow song and talking. Every once in a while, Naruto would burst out laughing at something that Hinata said. Pleased with myself, I took a seat in one of the hard plastic chairs.

Thankfully, Tenten joined me after a few minutes. "How's it going?" She grinned.

"Good," I answered truthfully. After talking to Sasuke, I felt like my nerve endings were on fire. A good fire.

"I think this is going to be the most successful homecoming dance in school history." Tenten said, a little too seriously.

I played along. "One day, there will be a monument built to celebrate the pure awesomeness of this event."

"To commemorate the Dance Committee, of course." Tenten added. "Or just me."

I smiled, and watched my friends - Shikamaru and Ino were dancing so close it looked like they were clinging to each other. Good, I accomplished what I set out to do.

"You look happy," Tenten said.

I shrugged. "I am." I said, surprised at how true that actually was. We spent the rest of the night talking, and watching our peers dance, and I realized how I could be happy without being surrounded by a group of friends all the time.

* * *

><p>The next day, I found myself immediately confronted by Ino in English class. I took my usual spot in the back, and was surprised when Ino sauntered to sit in the desk in front of mine.<p>

"So," Ino said, "you're the girl who took Shikamaru to the homecoming dance."

I eyed her. She didn't look mad or anything... just curious. "Yeah," I answered. "But it's not what you think. Really."

"You set us up, didn't you?" Ino went straight to the point.

I shrugged, "I guess I did." It was hard not to start grinning. I was still coming off the high from the dance last Friday night. After the dance, Hinata had come over to my house and we had talked about what happened - the last time I heard she was going to see a movie with Naruto next week-

"Thank you," Ino said, her voice breaking me out of my thoughts. For a second, it was like we were best friends again.

"No problem," I replied. "I-"

"Ino, what are you doing?" Karin's annoyingly shrill voice interrupted what I was going to say. "What are you doing?"

Ino ignored her. "But how did you know? That he liked me, I mean."

"I'm good at reading people." This was sort of true. I mean, Shikamaru hadn't even told me that he liked Ino last year - I had just picked it up and bothered him so much that he finally confessed.

"Well, thanks again." Ino gave me a little smile. "I'm so glad I'm not going out with Kiba anymore. I didn't realize how much of a jerk he was until last weekend."

"I know," I gushed. "Talk about self-centered. All he wants to talk about is how much he can bench press!"

Ino gave me a weird look. "You knew about that?"

Of course I did, I went out with him too. "I've heard rumors." I said hastily, instead. Why did I always have to blurt things out without thinking? That kind of thing would get me in trouble one day if I didn't know how to control it.

Our teacher Kakashi came in after that - well after the bell had rung - and Ino returned to her usual spot with Karin and her friends. I felt a little sad after that, it had been the first time I had really talked to Ino in months. I missed her so much.

"What was that?" Hinata asked, once Ino had left.

I told her a watered-down story about how I had noticed Shikamaru liked Ino and set them up. "I can't stand Kiba," I concluded. "Ino definitely could have done better. And now she is."

"You really like to help people, don't you?" Hinata gave me a tiny smile.

I shrugged. "You could say that."


	7. Chapter 7

_I'm walking down the hallway, until I find Sasuke at his locker. He looks a little disgruntled - the cast on his arm is more frustrating than he'll let anyone see. I grab the books that are balanced precariously on his arm. "I can carry these," I tell him. Calculus is our next class anyway, it's not like I'll be going out of my way._

_"You don't have to do that." He says._

_"But I want to, my dear Uchiha." I bat my eyelashes at him, and he smirks._

_Sasuke has always been my best friend, since we were kids, and I don't know what I would do without him._

_We walk to Calculus, and I tell him about my current boyfriend problems. "Kiba's getting so possessive lately," I tell him casually. "I think I'm going to break up with him tomorrow." I ended up staying with him for months. I ended the relationship with a text message - not my proudest moment, but he was a jerk anyway._

_Something flashes across Sasuke's eyes, but I'm too absorbed in myself to see it. "I'm glad," he admits, "Kiba always looked at you like you were a piece of meat."_

_"It's the price of being popular," I say. "People aren't always going to judge me on my stunning personality, Sasuke. It's not a big deal."_

_He only sighs. Sasuke's gotten used to my arrogance, but he knows isn't just a facade when I'm around him. Sasuke's the only person I feel like I can be myself around._

_When we get to Calculus, I take my seat next to him and gently set the books down on his desk. "Hey," I say. "Are you going to do anything with that cast?"_

_Sasuke looks bemused. "What do you mean?"_

_"Well you won't let anyone sign it," I say, taking a closer look at it. "You know, I could do something with that, if you let me paint it."_

_He agrees, but grudgingly._

_After school that day, I show up at his house with my painting supplies - that's another thing only Sasuke knows, how I like to paint in my room sometimes - and decorate his cast. I like making the little designs and talking to him while I'm doing it._

_"So how's Itachi lately?" I ask, while I'm painting a small football near the top of his hand._

_Sasuke shrugs. "I wouldn't know. I haven't seen him in weeks." Ever since their parents had died, Itachi had been as distant as he had before. _

_"He'll come around." I said, and he would. Itachi would be back a week before graduation (he wasn't able to make it to the actual thing because he had work), to congratulate Sasuke and to spend some time with him. Of course, he would be back on the night of graduation, because of the accident. _

_But wait, how would I know that?_

_I go back to painting, but something in the back of my head says that this isn't right. What am I doing here?_

_When I look up, Sasuke's turned into Konan, and she's smiling at me in that weird way she does. "You're running out of time, Sakura." She says._

* * *

><p>"Aah!" I shirked, and woke up. It was just a dream. Something like disappointment coursed through me, and I longed for that feeling I had in my dream. The feeling that everything was back to normal, and I had Sasuke again.<p>

I sighed, and looked at the time. It was five thirty in the morning, but I couldn't go back to sleep. I guess I was up for the day.

I felt sluggish and exhausted when I was getting ready for school. The weekend had really passed by quickly. I mostly spent it inside working on my homework, reading Jane Austen, and sketching everything I saw for practice. It wasn't like I had anything else to do - Hinata was busy trying to get to know her cousin Neji better, and Tenten had decided that she needed a break after we threw "the best homecoming dance of all time" (her words). So I spent the weekend indoors, and enjoyed it.

School was a new form of hell. I could barely keep my eyes open during first period.

"Sakura," Hinata said. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, just tired. Have you talked to Naruto recently?"

Hinata blushed and said. "I gave him my phone number, but we haven't had much time to talk since I was so busy this weekend." I had introduced Naruto to Hinata during the Homecoming dance last week, and they had hit it off - to my (and Hinata's) delight.

"So..." I pressed. "Are you two dating or what?"

If possible, Hinata's face got even redder. "We've decided to take it slow," she said. "But he's taking me to a movie next weekend."

I grinned. This was working out better than I had hoped.

The day got weird around lunch, when Naruto came to sit at our table at lunch. At first, the others only stared at him, like he'd made some huge mistake and mistaken us for the popular kids.

"Hey, Hinata," Naruto grinned. "Mind if I sit with you?"

Hinata looked, like the others, sort of shocked.

"She'd love it." I told him, with an encouraging smile to Hinata.

"Great!" Naruto said, and took a seat by Hinata, who continued to blush. "Hey, Sakura!"

Tenten, who had been observing this spectacle the whole time, decided to give me a pointed look. I shrugged, Naruto wasn't bad - in fact, he was one of my friends back when I was going through my senior year the first time.

"What's going on?" Tenten muttered to me. "I mean, I knew Hinata and Naruto were together during the dance, but I didn't know it was this..." She trailed off.

"Monumental?" I completed her sentence.

She only shrugged. "Look at Ami, she looks like she was just asked to eat a spider."

I looked over to the table where Naruto usually sat. Beside Karin (and Sasuke), Ami was now glaring intently at our table. I guess she was expecting to get back together with Naruto. In fact, the whole cafeteria seemed to be wondering what was going on. Besides Sasuke, Naruto was one of the most well-known people in the whole school, and here he was sitting with the freaks. If I was still part of Naruto's group, I would be surprised myself.

"This is incredible." I said finally. Meanwhile, Naruto and Hinata had started talking about the art project Hinata was working on - she still wouldn't let me see it. They seemed completely oblivious to the stares of our peers.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur. Sasuke wasn't in Calculus - he was probably at a doctor's appointment or something - which was disappointing, but I would live. Naruto's sitting with us at lunch had made a greater impact than I thought possible. Hinata was actually getting talked to in the hallway by people we didn't know, and - as a new friend of Naruto's - I was too. It was like I had a little sliver of my old life, plus Hinata. Ah, high school, I'll never understand you.

In fact, now that I was sort of friends with Naruto again, I was sure that I was getting closer to Sasuke. At that moment, I never wanted anything more than to talk with Sasuke again like we were best friends - like the dream I had the night before.

Sighing, I got back to my work.

* * *

><p>The next time I had a real conversation with Sasuke (besides the small remarks I could get in during classes) was during the football game the next Friday night. For some reason, Tenten had made me the "Official Documenter" of the rest of the season.<p>

"Come on, Sakura." She had said, even when I was protesting. "You've gotten really good at this - help me train the freshman!"

I ended up agreeing. I mean, it's another way to see Sasuke, right?

That night, I felt the same as I usually did during football games - isolated, yet excited. Thankfully, Shino was still in charge of the AV kids, so I got to talk to him periodically. The game was between our school's rivals, and the game had been really hyped up all week. The stands were more crowded than I was used to.

When I looked up at the stands, I saw a new face. Hinata, sitting next to her cousin Neji. She must have come to support Naruto. Ino and Shikamaru were nearby holding hands and talking. I sighed, feeling wistful. Every time I saw them, I felt happy and wistful at the same time. Hinata, seeing me staring, caught my eye and waved. I grinned and returned the wave.

The game started off okay. The two teams mostly stayed tied. I was never a fan of football - it always looks like a bunch of guys chasing a ball to me - but I was still excited. I walked around, snapping pictures of the team. Every once in awhile, I would get other pictures of the crowd or the band or the cheerleaders. I found that I liked the work. It made me feel happy and artistic.

In fact, I found myself so wrapped up in taking pictures, that I didn't realize that Sasuke was right beside me when I was taking a particularly good one (if I do say so myself) of someone running the football across the field.

"Having fun?" I didn't have to see him to be able to tell that it was Sasuke talking to me.

I turned around, grinning and exhilarated. I probably looked silly, but I didn't care. "Well yeah," I said, as if it were obvious.

Sasuke smirked at me, sitting on the bench. I knew how it killed him not to be playing, but he couldn't throw a football with the cast on his arm. "I didn't see you at the last game."

"I was helping out with the homecoming dance, if you don't remember." I replied. Inside, I was screaming. He noticed!

Sasuke nodded, looking at the game. The other team had scored a touch down, and we were tied again. He said something in that strange jargon that those who know a lot about sports use - you know, the language that sounds like English, but that I have no hope of understanding. He used to do that the year before too.

I nodded, just happy that he was talking to me. "When do you get that off?" I asked, indicating his cast, even though I knew already. Three more weeks.

"Two weeks," Sasuke said. "But I have to go in for a check-up, so it's not for sure." He looked a little frustrated.

"You'll be fine before the playoff game," I assured him.

"How do you know we'll make it to playoffs?" Sasuke asked. "We're not doing so well this season, or have you been too busy taking pictures to notice?" I couldn't believe it - he was teasing me. Translation: the team is awful without me, and I know it.

"I know everything, my dear Uchiha," I said, without thinking.

He gave me a strange look. "You used to call me that," he said.

I could only stare at him. Did he remember? How could he know I used to say that to him?

"No," he shook his head. "Sorry. I used to have a friend that called me that. You remind me of her a lot, actually."

"Oh?" I said, trying to sound nonchalant. "What was her name? Maybe I know her."

He thought for a moment. "I don't remember." Sasuke said finally. "It seems like a long time ago." He seemed confused for a moment, and then looked like he was about to say something when-

"Sasuke!" Karin, who I had momentarily forgotten was a cheerleader, ran over to where Sasuke was sitting. "Did you see us? I did that move you like." She simpered, and then gave me a look. "What are you doing here?"

I held up my camera as an explanation. "Smile," I said, trying to cover up my disappointment.

Sasuke smirked as I snapped a picture of the two of them. I left shortly after - watching Karin flirt with the guy I love wasn't the best way of spending my Friday night, in my opinion.

I couldn't get what happened out of my mind after that. Was there some sort of flaw in the magic? Could Sasuke remember me after all? I wanted to ask Konan, but she was nowhere to be found. For the first time, I actually wanted to see that witch-lady.

Our team ended up winning the game, but barely. They would have done so much better if Sasuke hadn't broken his arm. When the team won, the crowd of students went crazy - sometimes I thought that our school had more school spirit than what was normal. From my place on the sidelines, I could see Naruto waving at Hinata from the field. Ami was still glowering from her place with the cheerleaders - good.

Realizing that I actually had a job, I quickly started snapping pictures with my camera of the crowd, cheerleaders, band, and football team. But even though I seemed absorbed in my task, my mind was still swimming with what happened with Sasuke.

* * *

><p>The two weeks that passed after that were uneventful. I gradually talked to Sasuke more and more in class everyday, but we were far from being close friends. I didn't care - I was just happy that I could talk to him again, even if it was about trivial things.<p>

The football team lost a game, and then won one, but we were still able to go to playoffs if we won the rest of the games - I didn't understand completely, but it was clear that our next game was against our rivals, and it was crucial.

We won, of course.

Unfortunately, Sasuke's doctor had declared his cast unready to come off for another week, so he was unable to play for the game that decided whether or not the team would go to playoffs.

We won that one too, but not by a lot. I'm sure the football team was relieved when Sasuke's cast came off and he was ready to play for our football team. The playoff game was three hours away that weekend, and Tenten (who had decided to come along that week) and I got to leave early from school with the football team, cheerleaders, and others that would be involved with the game. Even though I knew what would happen (we would win again, but would lose the next game), I was sort of excited. Even though Hinata didn't want to admit it, she was as good as dating Naruto - they spent a lot of time together. She would be supporting him at that night's game.

I had noticed that - in light of recent events - Hinata had become sort of popular. Because of her newfound relationship with the second most popular boy at school (the first being Sasuke, of course) and her relation to Neji Hyuga, people were starting to see Hinata differently. And because Hinata was so down-to-earth, absolutely none of it went to her head.

"Hey Hinata!" A girl who was a sophomore and (from what I had experienced when I was popular) a huge suck-up approached my friend. "I'm having a party after the game tonight, if you want to come." She completely ignored me.

Hinata only smiled and thanked the girl. "I would love to, but I already have plans with someone else." If I was the girl, I would have thought she was talking about Naruto. If you really knew Hinata, you would know better. She was talking about the plans she had made with me the week before - I was going to sleep over at her house.

Watching this exchange, it really struck me how incredibly _good _Hinata was. If I had been in her place last year, I can't say I wouldn't have ditched my friend for the popular kids. What did the that make me?

"You know," I said, once the girl was gone. "You can go to the party. I won't be mad if you want to do the sleepover another night."

Hinata shook her head. "Are you kidding? We've been planning this for days, and I don't even know her!"

I grinned, and wondered how I had been so lucky as to have found Hinata.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Hey guys! I know it's been awhile and I'm really sorry! I just started college and I've been really busy lately. I'll try to get chapters up sooner in the future, but if I don't I'm really sorry! Also, I'm determined to finish this story, even if it takes awhile. :P Thank you so much for the reviews, you guys are awesome! Please tell me what you think about this chapter. :)

Also if you find any typos or inconsistencies feel free to tell me!

**Updated 6/17/15: **Because I didn't actually fix that much the last time I updated this chapter (which was recent).

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: **Hey everyone! I would like to say that I'm sorry for not updating sooner - I've been really busy since I started college! I'm still working on this story, even though it might take me longer to update that usual. Hopefully I'll be able to write more chapters this summer! Thank you so much for your nice reviews. :) Please tell me what you think about this chapter, and if I made any huge errors feel free to tell me please! Thank you for your support!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

* * *

><p>After school the next week, I found myself in an empty classroom sorting through the pictures that one of the freshman had taken at last weeks' pep rally. They weren't awful, but they weren't very good either, and I was trying to pick out pictures that weren't too blurry that Tenten might approve for the yearbook. Even though I had only started the whole photography thing so I could get closer to Sasuke, I began to get more serious about it. I even developed a fondness for the people in the club with me - freshman, Tenten, and all.<p>

I was studying a picture of some of the cheerleaders doing one of their routines when someone walked in the room. Thinking it was Tenten or Hinata, I told them to wait. "Hold on a second, I'm looking at these pictures."

"Take your time," a voice that was clearly not Hinata or Tenten said.

I looked up to see Ino staring at me from the doorway.

"Er, can I help you?" I asked. Mentally, I chided myself for not being friendlier. _This was your best friend, _I thought, _make her like you!_

"I came to pick up some pictures that Tenten said were ready," Ino said. "For Shikamaru. He needs them for the school newspaper."

Of course. I remembered Tenten leaving me an envelope of them. I picked it up from where it was sitting on the desk beside me. "I didn't know Shikamaru is working on the school newspaper now."

Ino shrugged. "He realized he needs some sort of extra credit to make him look interesting on college applications." She rolled her eyes. "He's so smart anyway, he'll probably get in to whatever college he wants." She talked about Shikamaru like she was just seeing him in a new light, which I guess was the case. They had always been friends, but he had been so bad at showing how he felt about her until I had gotten them together at the Homecoming dance weeks ago.

"Really?" I said, genuinely surprised. "He cares about school now? What's gotten in to him?" It was true, Shikamaru was extremely smart - he was just really lazy too.

Ino nodded, regarding me warily. "He's rejoined the chess club too."

It wasn't like I was really surprised - Shikamaru did end up joining the newspaper club and the chess club (he had already been in it in ninth grade, but quit because it was too easy for him), but it was much later in the fall semester the first time around.

"Good for him." I grinned. Ino returned my smile, but hesitantly. She left shortly after, and I wondered if I had done something wrong.

When I asked Tenten if she would know why Ino was acting so strange (Tenten was a journalist, and extremely nosey - she usually knew all the gossip, or the majority of it).

"She thinks you were trying to get Shikamaru to date you when you asked him to the Homecoming dance, but it backfired and now he's dating Ino." Tenten said, while she scribbled something in her planner. "Basically she's afraid you want her man." The blunt way she said this would have been funny, if I hadn't been so upset.

"What?" I said. "That's so stupid, why would I want to date _Shikamaru?" _It wasn't even a good lie, for anyone who had made it up. It was true, I had been talking to Shikamaru more, but it was only because he was in my Government class, and he liked to ask me if he could copy my work (I usually said no).

"Well you did take him to the dance," Tenten said, turning a page nonchalantly.

"You know I was only doing that because I was trying to get him together with Ino," I made a face.

"Relax, I was kidding," Tenten looked up from her planner, still looking serious. Sometimes it was hard to tell what she was feeling - just because she had the same expression all the time. "But isn't it obvious?"

"Isn't _what _obvious?"

Tenten shrugged, as if she was surprised I wasn't picking up on it already. "Someone doesn't like you, that's for sure. That's why they made the rumor."

I sighed. Who would be spreading rumors about _me_? I wasn't even popular anymore. Didn't unpopular people magically fall of the radar of the other popular people? Wasn't that how it was supposed to work?

Thinking back to it, no, that's not how it worked at all.

"But who would say that?" I said.

Tenten only shrugged. "I have my suspicions."

I did too - Karin. Who else would make up something like that? But no, Karin hadn't talked to me in awhile, except to make snide remarks when I was talking to Sasuke. In fact, I hadn't interacted with her since the last football game, and she hadn't been nasty to me since. I decided that I should cut Karin some slack - just because I didn't like her didn't mean she was going to sabotage my friendship with Ino.

What did Sasuke think of her?

Whatever. It wasn't something I needed to dwell on - at least, that's what I kept telling myself.

At lunch, I still felt like something was off. I had been getting strange looks from other students in the hallway - they were almost accusatory. I ignored them, of course. It was something I had picked up back when I was popular - people were going to start rumors about you, and the only appropriate response was to pretend that they didn't affect you.

Of course, on the inside, I was panicking a little. How was this even happening?

Which was why I snapped at Naruto at lunch that day when he asked me how long I had had a crush on Shikamaru.

"I do _not_ have a crush on Shikamaru!" I said loudly. Some of the people from the tables surrounding ours turned and stared.

Hinata sent them apologetic looks. "Sakura," she said, "I don't think he meant to make you upset."

I sighed. "Who told you that, Naruto?"

Naruto thought for a moment, still looking hurt that I had yelled at him. The effect of him sitting at our lunch table had gradually worn off, and had now become a normal part of our lives. "Sasuke's girlfriend," he said. "She said that your plan to take him to the homecoming dance had backfired, and that Shikamaru was supposed to be dating you now."

"That bitch," I hissed under my breath.

Tenten's reaction was much calmer. "Well," she said, moving her homemade salad around with her fork, "it seems that my suspicions were correct."

After that, I apologized for snapping at Naruto, and I left the table. I didn't know how, but I had to talk to Ino about what was happening. God, I thought that being invisible would make me immune to rumors - I guess that's not how it works.

Like I did when I got upset these days, I went to the art room and continued working on a painting I had started a few days ago. It was my best rendition of how it felt to be on the sidelines of a football game. Even though I didn't like football, there was something about the wistfulness I felt about watching everyone around me. Of course, I was only adding one of the first layers at the time so it hadn't started to materialize yet, but I was confident that my painting would-

"Hey Konan," I said, feeling her presence behind me.

"Sakura Haruno," Konan's voice sounded a little surprised, if it was possible, "you're changing."

"Isn't that obvious?" I asked her - if anything, I realized, I was happy to see Konan. "It's been awhile," I told her. It had been a couple of weeks since she had last checked in on me. I wondered if she was busy meddling with other lives.

She ignored this comment. "I see you haven't been making very much progress." If anything, did she seem concerned? No, as long as I had known Konan she barely showed any emotion at all.

"What are you talking about?" I asked her. "Do you see how much things have changed around here?"

"You know what I mean," she said. "You're running out of time."

"I know," I said, more quietly, "but what can I do?"

"It is up to you," she answered.

Suddenly, I wasn't so happy to see her anymore. My anger at Karin and my despair over my life at the moment was almost overwhelming - it didn't help that she refused to help me.

"Why are you here," I said, turning back to my painting, "if you're only going to tell me how little time I have left? I _know _that. It sucks. But you're not even trying to help me."

"I am helping you by giving you this opportunity," she reminded me, and even I couldn't help but admit that it was true. It was because of what she did that Sasuke was alive now, and that I had another chance of living with him.

She was gone then, and I wondered if I would be able to do it - get Sasuke to love me again. Sure, I had made progress, but what was it about me that he had loved before? I hadn't really been that attractive on the inside, I mean.

By the time I got to Calculus, I was in a state of despair. This was probably the last seven or so months that I would ever live, I realized, unless Sasuke loved me again. It seemed hopeless, but what could I do?

That's when I resolved to do everything I could to get my friends back, while keeping my new ones. I would make sure everything was happy and squared away before I had to leave them. If I couldn't get Sasuke to love me, then I could do the next best thing by making sure he was happy before I left.

But what did that mean for Sasuke? Should I try to be friends with him, or would forming an emotional attachment to me make it harder for him when I died? No, that would be my one selfishness. I wanted him to miss me when I was gone. As selfish as that seemed, I couldn't bare the thought of him not caring that I had existed once. We had gone through too much for that, even if he couldn't remember it.

Thankfully, Sasuke wasn't in Calculus that day, and I was left alone with my thoughts. Later, I would learn that it was because he was getting his cast taken off.

* * *

><p>The football team flourished after Sasuke got his cast removed. In the next few weeks, they made it past the first few rounds of playoffs almost easily, and were only beaten at the playoff game determining whether or not they would make it to the state championships. I was a little relieved - I wouldn't have to document anymore football games, and could focus more attention on other things.<p>

Naruto and Hinata's relationship continued to grow, and it was obvious that they were perfect for each other. At the same time, Hinata never let it go to her head and continued to value the friendships she had before with Tenten and me. I talked to Shikamaru more on a regular basis - we had started to regain the easy friendship that we had before. Ino, unfortunately, still seemed to dislike me.

Through all of this, Sasuke was still dating Karin. As much as it hurt me to see them together, I was glad that he was happy. I still talked to Sasuke occasionally, but it was clear that I would need to step it up if I wanted him to be friends with me.

As the weeks went by, I slowly grew accustomed to my new life.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: **To anyone who's still reading this, I'm so sorry that it's taken me forever to update this! To those of you who are still interested in reading/still reading, thank you so much for your patience! I still have plans to finish this story eventually, but I'm really busy lately with college classes and the only free time I really have is on break (like I'm on now). I'll try to finish as much as I can in the next few weeks, so please stick with me! I tried to write a lot in this chapter to make up for the lost time. :)

Also, I'm looking for a Beta Reader if anyone's interested. The major I've chosen hasn't given me a lot of opportunities to refine my writing skills (as you might see below, hopefully not too much). So if you're interested in helping me out grammatically, send me a PM!

Again, thank you so much for reading!

**Update 6/17/15: **I'm still looking for a Beta if anyone is interested!

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><p><em>It's the night of graduation, and I'm... oddly calm. Which is strange, because even when I didn't have the threat of death hanging over my head I was still terrified to walk across the stage for some reason. This time, when Principal Tsunade hands me my diploma, I only have a sense of dread.<em>

_It takes longer for Sasuke to reach the stage (because his last name is closer to the end of the alphabet), but I wait patiently to see him. I have to save every last moment I have with him, even if it's just watching him from afar. It was hard to see him ever since he forgot about me. Hard to talk to him, really, because whatever had made him infatuated with me before had disappeared. That didn't stop me from trying though._

_When graduation is over, and everyone is celebrating by throwing their hats up in the air, I can't. I feel frozen, even when Hinata walks over to ask me if I'm okay._

_"Sakura, it's time to go," she says._

_I watch, in horror, as her face turns into Konan's. "Your time is up," she whispers._

I wake up, gasping for air. The dream felt so real that time - it was like my time really was up.

It took me a while to calm down, just laying in bed and taking deep breaths, until I realized that it was almost time for me to wake up for school. My alarm for me to wake up started, and I switched it off impatiently. It was just a dream, I told myself over and over. I didn't want to think that it could become my fate one day.

* * *

><p>"Look at them," Tenten said in disgust. She was leaning against my locker to harass me about something in the yearbook - to be honest, I had stopped paying attention after a few minutes.<p>

I looked, and then instantly regretted it. It was Karin, smiling and laughing flirtatiously to Sasuke, who was watching her with an amused smile. It stung for a second, because I remembered how he had looked at me like that once.

"Do they have to do that around everyone?" She complained, when I turned away from them, my stomach sinking. I didn't want to know.

"I don't know," I sighed.

Tenten looked at me funny, almost in realization, and then she changed the subject. "So anyway, I was thinking that we could do a sort of winter-themed page for the yearbook..." She carried on, and I pretended like I was listening intently, although I couldn't shake the thoughts of the dream that had woken me this morning.

As I walked to my first class, I took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. I couldn't let this get to me, I thought. Although the possibility of me failing at my task (and then dying because of it) was daunting, I couldn't let it get to me. If I wanted to make progress, I had to stop thinking about it as much. For the past few weeks, I had been having vivid nightmares about running out of time. It was terrifying, and I felt hopeless if I thought too much about it.

When I got to English, I could tell that Hinata noticed that something was up as soon as she saw me. "Did you sleep okay?" She asked, kindly.

I shook my head. "I haven't been able to sleep very well." I admitted. The fear of having the nightmares had kept me up at night, and I wasn't getting enough sleep because of it.

Hinata nodded sympathetically. There was something in her expression that was similar to Tenten's, but I couldn't figure out what it was. Maybe it was all the lack of sleep. "Maybe you should try drinking some tea before bed, I heard it helps-"

"Hello," Kakashi interrupted, entering the classroom. For once, he was early. The class, who was so used to him being late usually, walked lazily to their spots.

As Kakashi began teaching, Hinata passed me a note: _Try drinking tea. Also, do you want to go shopping with me today? Naruto asked me to go with him to the football banquet, and I don't know what to wear._

Hinata inviting me to go shopping!? Being with Naruto really must have changed her. I replied: _Of course! We'll find something that makes you look hot!_

When she got the note, she smiled and rolled her eyes. I winked, and then sighed to myself. The banquet always happened at the end of the fall semester, and was something that was put on to celebrate the football team. They were allowed to bring dates, but besides that it was pretty exclusive. I was usually invited by Sasuke, and the last time my boyfriend at the time, Kiba, had taken me as his date. I had a great time sitting by Sasuke and everyone else.

I knew who he was taking this year though, and it sure wasn't me.

Still, I wanted to help Hinata out, and I did like shopping. I managed to perk up during English, and by the end of the class I was fine.

News about the banquet ran rampant through the school, as the football players who were single found dates (to the disappointment of the hopeful freshman girls that I heard talking about it in yearbook), and the ones who were already dating someone were gossiped about by everyone. While I watched everyone anxiously talking about something that most of them weren't invited to, I realized how pointless it all was - why did it matter anyway? Unless, of course, you were running out of time...

But I wouldn't think about it.

During lunch, I was surprised to see that Sasuke was sitting with us.

"Hey Uchiha," the words came out before I thought about what I was saying, "how have you been?"

Sasuke looked up, as if he was inspecting me, and then smirked. "It could be better," he replied.

"Karin's mad at him!" Naruto said loudly, sitting down beside his friend. He began to shovel food into his mouth. "Where is she, anyway?"

"At the library," said Sasuke, "being tutored."

HA! Karin had to be in tutoring! I felt triumphant, as if I was winning even though Karin was the one who was dating the guy I loved.

During the ruckus caused by Naruto, Hinata sat down beside him. "Hello," she said.

"Hey!" Naruto said brightly. "Are you ready for Friday?"

"Almost," Hinata smiled shyly, "Sakura's taking me shopping after school today for a dress."

"Why?" Ami, Karin's rude friend who had been eavesdropping before sitting down at a table nearby, sneered behind Hinata. "It's not like she has a date."

I ignored Ami. "Anything for Hinata," I said, "she's going to look amazing!" Thankfully, no one acknowledged Ami's comment, so that made me feel better.

* * *

><p>"This looks... interesting," Deidara said, studying the painting I had finished, "what do you call it?"<p>

"I'm not sure, honestly." I answered. It was the piece I had made when I was angry - a sky with streaks of red and orange. In the midst of the landscape, there were darker colors - violet, and black.

"It's very raw," was Deidara's only response before he walked away to look at another student's artwork. He was so emotionless that I couldn't tell if he was happy with my artwork sometimes.

Hinata was beside me, working intently. She still refused to show me the painting that she was working on - Deidara seemed to think it was nice though.

I stared at the blank canvas before me, and thought about Sasuke. I wished that everything could be normal again. Sighing, I picked a deep blue color, and began to paint.

Sasuke was late to Calculus that day, so I wasn't able to talk to him before class. We had a substitute teacher, so the lights promptly went off at the start of class, and a video was played about math.

I don't know if it was the dimness of the lights, the boring video, or the lack of sleep that I had gotten, but I was asleep within minutes - until something hit my hand that startled me back awake.

I looked up, and saw Sasuke staring intently at me. Carefully, I unfolded the paper that he had thrown, and saw a note, written in his neat handwriting: _Did I miss anything before class?_

I picked up my pencil, and wrote: _Only attendance. _But he had already sorted that out.

To my surprise, Sasuke replied, _Not enough sleep last night? _

_How could you tell? _I wrote. When he got that note, the corner of his mouth twitched, and I felt elated.

We kept talking throughout the class period. To my disappointment, it didn't get past small talk, but it was something.

* * *

><p>For the rest of the week, my nightmares got worse, to the point where I would sometimes wake up screaming in the middle of the night. This worried my mom, who seemed to think it had something to do with me being stressed about school. I went along with it, knowing that if I told her the truth she would have thought I was crazy. I had been trying to spend as much time with my parents as I could on the weekends - I didn't want to think about how hard the next year could be for them.<p>

That Friday, I showed up to school groggy. I had only gotten a few hours of sleep last night, and it had been restless before the nightmares came. Still, I was alive at least.

I was getting my books for English, when Choji Akimichi - one of the football players - approached me. "Umm, Sakura?" He said shyly.

"Yes?" I answered.

"Naruto told me you didn't have a date to the banquet, and I don't either so..." he paused, "Umm, will you go with me? I know it's short notice..." He blushed.

"Of course!" I beamed. "Thanks Choji!"

He seemed to not have expected such an enthusiastic response from me. Choji blushed even deeper, and gave me the information for the banquet before scurrying away.

That night, I went over to Hinata's house to get ready. After school on Monday, I had found Hinata a lilac, floor-length dress that was made out of this silk material. It really brought out her eyes, and when I looked at her in it I felt proud.

"Thanks Sakura," Hinata said, looking at herself in the mirror as if she wasn't looking at herself.

"It's no problem," I said, "I'm not even done yet!" I swept her hair up on her head and arranged it into an elegant up-do. What would she ever do without me?

Once Hinata was ready, it was my turn. I had picked out a long, black halter-top dress that had been lying in my closet. It was simple, but I thought it suited me well. for my hair, I pulled it back like Hinata's, and then smiled at her. "There," I said. "Done."

I looked at myself in the mirror, wondering what I had worn to the banquet the first time - I couldn't even remember. That was strange, for me at least.

"It's almost time to go," Hinata said.

I nodded. "I think I can hear Naruto and Choji downstairs." There were faint voices coming from the living room.

"Let's go," Hinata smiled.

The boys' reactions to our outfits were even better than I expected. Naruto's mouth hung open, and he ran to Hinata and swept her off her feet. "You look beautiful!" He said.

Choji just blushed and said. "You look nice."

"Thanks," I smiled, "you clean up well too."

We took Naruto's car to the banquet - with Naruto and Hinata sitting in front and Choji and me in the back. Choji was a nice guy, I realized, and he told me about the cooking classes he was taking on the side.

"I think I want to be a chef one day," he admitted bashfully.

"I think that would be wonderful," I told him, "you should definitely cook for me sometime."

"Okay," he smiled.

The banquet was held at a convention center in town - the school was willing to spend more on the football team than the student body - and it was beautiful. Someone had decorated it in the school colors - but they were more muted and elegant. I wondered how they did that.

Inside, there were four long tables for everyone to sit at that were decorated elegantly. I was about to ask where we were supposed to sit, when something caught my eye. It was like we noticed each other at the same time - Sasuke had been looking over to the window, when suddenly he turned to where I was standing. And that's when I felt a sudden urge of longing. He was wearing a tuxedo - the same as the rest of the team - but I suddenly felt like I couldn't control myself. I had forgotten what his touch felt like, and I wanted it at that moment. There was something curious in his expression, I couldn't tell what it was.

Sasuke looked away. Karin had been pulling on his sleeve angrily. Feeling the urge to blush, I looked away too - what had I been doing? Thankfully, the only person who had noticed what had happened (other than Sasuke's angry girlfriend) was Hinata. She gave me a concerned look, which I ignored. God, he looked amazing. I missed him so much.

I ended up sitting across from Sasuke again - it was sort of like lunch, except that Karin was beside him, scowling at me. We had dinner, before awards were handed out. It was actually really fun - Choji was able to carry on a conversation really well once he opened up to me more. Sadly, neither Sasuke or Karin (I wasn't so sad about that one) were talking to one another - or to anyone. I think there might have been something wrong.

"So anyway," Naruto was continuing on one of his loud stories from where he sat by Hinata, "then I said..." I stopped paying attention. He had been going on about something for the past ten minutes, the story getting even more ridiculous as he went on. I watched Hinata roll her eyes whenever he got too silly, but she never stopped smiling at him. I could tell that Naruto adored her too, and that made me happy.

Then there were the awards, which were generic - MVP, Most Improved, etc. Sasuke had to make a speech because he was the captain, handing over the captainship to the next lucky player. I could see how much he loved them, his friends, and the way he smiled when he talked about different hardships that the team had gone through (including him breaking his arm). When he announced the new captain (a junior that I didn't know very well), I suddenly felt emotional. I had been through this once, and he had smiled at me during his speech. He had smiled, and then I had ditched Kiba (who was being an ass) to hang out with Sasuke after the banquet.

"Excuse me," I said, standing up from the table. I made my way towards the nearest bathroom before anyone could see me cry.

I sat down in a stall - it was really fancy, where did the school get the money to pay for this? - and let the tears that I had been holding back fall. It was stupid, I know, how I could get so upset over the absence of a smile. A smile that I wanted from Sasuke so badly, that probably wouldn't happen again.

I stayed in the bathroom, mourning the loss of a friend - well, of the memory of my best friend - until I calmed down enough to come out of the stall.

"Hey," Ino was in the bathroom touching up on her makeup. She was wearing a deep blue dress, and her hair was down and curled delicately. "Are you okay?"

That startled me - I hadn't heard her come into the bathroom, or I would have stayed hidden behind the stall door. Instead of replying, I just started weeping again.

Ino's eyes widened when she saw me crying. "Hey," she said again, more softly, "what's wrong?" She led me over to a couch that was in the fancy bathroom, and we sat down.

I just shook my head, how could I tell anyone without them thinking I had gone crazy? "Nothing, really," I sniffed, "I'm just overreacting. Really, it's nothing."

"Is it a boy?" Ino said. She was almost as nosey as Tenten, I thought.

"Sort of," I laughed despite myself. "It's complicated."

"It's Sasuke, isn't it?" Ino pressed. "He couldn't keep his eyes off you tonight - I could tell that Karin was pissed."

I sighed. "It is Sasuke," I said, "but it's still complicated."

"Things with Karin aren't going very well," Ino confided to me, "they're going through a rough patch - they almost broke up the other day. I don't know why they haven't yet, honestly. Sasuke doesn't have a lot of patience for bitchy girls." Ino was Karin's friend, but I could tell that some things hadn't changed. We had always thought that Karin was a bitch.

I realized, while we were talking, that this was the first time we had talked where everything was almost back to normal. I missed Ino too, and the thought almost made me cry again, but I held it back. "Really," I said, "that's interesting."

Ino grinned. "I think you would be better for him anyway. You're sort of his type, Sakura." As if I didn't know.

I shrugged. "I don't know if he has a type," I lied. "He always looks so cranky."

"You've got that right," Ino laughed. "He's like that most of the time."

"How are things with Shikamaru?" I asked. We had said hi when we first got to the banquet, but they were sitting further down the table from us, so we hadn't gotten the chance to talk.

"They're great," Ino said, "he's really applying himself now. I don't know what's gotten into him."

We talked for a few more minutes. I actually felt a lot better after crying and talking to Ino. I had been so caught up on Sasuke that I hadn't realized how much I had missed my other best friend. Ino and I had been really close once.

"We should hang out after school sometime," Ino said, before she left, "I think I need a shopping partner after I saw what you did to Hinata - you really have a gift for that kind of thing."

"Thanks," I beamed. I used to do the same thing for her, actually.

When I was alone again, I touched up my makeup, and then started walking back to the table.

"Hey," a shrill voice said, and I turned around to see Karin glaring at me.

"What?" I said, my patience waning.

"Stay away from Sasuke," she hissed. "He's mine."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I told her. What was she doing? Ino had said something about her being pissed.

"You don't even _know _him," she continued, "why do you think you have a chance? He's dating me now. He's happy." I could see the hatred in her face as she talked to me.

"What is it that you have against me?" I said, the words slipping out, like they had the tendency to do lately. "You hate me so much, but you've never given me a reason. Are you doing it to make yourself feel better or something? Because that's pathetic."

"You bitch," she said, "you shouldn't even be here."

"I was invited," I retorted, "and I'm going back inside now, if you'll excuse me." I walked back to the table, fuming. I didn't know how I was able to deal with Karin for a whole year before this. She was terrible!

"Where have you been?" Hinata asked me, when I sat back down. I saw Sasuke looking at me intently.

"It's a long story," I whispered to her, "I'll have to tell you later when we're alone."

Hinata nodded, and I heard Ino's voice across the table. "Sakura and I were just talking," she grinned, "we're friends now." I saw Shikamaru smirk beside her - Ino could be pretty blunt sometimes, but that's what I loved about her. _Friends_, I thought. The word felt right.

"That was a good speech you made, Uchiha." I told Sasuke, again using the name I used to call him when we were friends.

"Thanks," he replied. I could tell he was upset about something.

The rest of the night went well - I continued talking to Choji, and it was pleasant. Karin didn't show back up, along with her friend Ami. I think they went home together, because Sasuke ended up riding back with us.

"Saskue's in trouble," Naruto laughed, when we were walking to his car. "He can't keep a girlfriend to save his life." That was sort of true, I thought, but it was usually because he lost interest in them. Poor girls.

He dropped Choji off first, and then Hinata.

"Let me get my keys, and then I'll take you home," Hinata told me. I was car-less for the night.

"I can take her," Naruto said, "her house is in the same direction as Sasuke's."

"Are you sure?" Hinata was asking me more than Naruto. I nodded.

"Okay, goodnight!" Hinata said. I would have to tell her about what happened in the bathroom later.

We mostly rode in silence, with Naruto talking about something that was happening with basketball season - Naruto played everything. Sasuke responded, mostly mumbling. He usually only did football and track at the end of the year.

When we reached my house, I said goodnight. "Thanks for taking me home."

I was so exhausted when I got back that, after saying a hurried greeting to my mom downstairs, I cleaned the makeup off my face, slipped out of my dress (which had gotten uncomfortable as the night progressed), and fell into bed. For the first time in weeks, I was able to sleep soundly.

* * *

><p><em>"My date's being an ass," I tell Sasuke. We had slipped outside to talk. Sasuke had taken a pretty girl from another school that Naruto had set him up with - her attitude was as bad as the bitchy girls that went to high school with us. "It was a nice speech though." I say.<em>

_He smiles. "Thanks. I was kind of nervous actually."_

_"Sasuke Uchiha, nervous?" I tease. "That's impossible!" Sasuke had actually struggled with anxiety for a few years after his parents died tragically in a car accident. He had been able to overcome it when he started getting involved with more extracurriculars like the football team. _

_"Shut up," he laughs. "I thought about you too," he admits._

_"Of course you did!" I say, oblivious, "I'm your best friend!"_

_"Yeah," Sasuke says, "that's it."_

_"Can we get out of here?" I ask him. "It looks like our dates are getting along." As I peer through the door, I see my boyfriend Kiba, flirting with Sasuke's date, who seems to be very interested in him._

_"Let's do it," Sasuke says, "I'm tired of being around people."_

_And that's how we ditched the football banquet. I think Kiba and I broke up for a while after that (before getting back together again), but I didn't really care. We end up going to Sasuke's house - Itachi wasn't there, as usual - and watch a movie in the living room._

_I end up leaning against him, barely paying attention to the movie because we're still talking. About everything. There's one point where I make him laugh so hard that he's almost crying. And then he looks at me, and I feel differently for a second, but it's weird. Like, Sasuke's my best friend, but there's something else._

_I ignore it, and we continue to talk throughout the night, until I remember my curfew, and he drives me back home._


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: **Hey everyone! Thank you so much for your support and reviews. :) I hope I can get a few more chapters out before the break ends - I'm working on trying to get them out as soon as I can. If you like what you're reading, please review! I really like reading your comments.

I'm also still looking for a Beta, so please PM me if you're interested! Thank you again!

* * *

><p>The next week of school lasted about three days because we were out for Thanksgiving. It was enough time, however, to update Tenten on what had happened at the now-infamous football banquet.<p>

Tenten smirked when I told her about my confrontation with Karin while we were in a classroom working on the school newspaper before class started (I was still in charge of taking pictures for it occasionally). "I knew she was upset about that," she said, and I believed her. Tenten was good at picking up gossip from her position as editor-in-chief of the school newspaper (the old one had quit). "Also, I heard from Shikamaru," she admitted. Now that he was part of the newspaper, I had been seeing Shikamaru a lot lately.

I rolled my eyes. "I didn't expect her to come find me like that though."

"We all know Karin's insane." Tenten said it like it was common knowledge. I guess it was, after last Friday. It was strange, even though Karin had been more than willing to let me know how much she disliked me before everything happened, she had never actually confronted me about it like that. I guess I was really getting to her.

"Hey guys," Ino sat down in the desk next to me, "are you talking about Karin's little blow-out this weekend?"

"You would be correct," Tenten replied. She didn't have a lot of patience for Ino, because she associated her with all of the other popular girls that were constantly rude, but she usually made an effort to conceal it for me.

"Apparently she's been going mental all weekend," Ino told us. I felt like she had already told a lot of people before us. "I don't know why Sasuke hasn't broken up with her yet, honestly. He usually doesn't have the patience for this sort of thing."

"Yeah," I said, "I would have thought that he would have ended it sooner." Or, you know, not have started dating Karin at all because he was supposed to love me. But whatever, it's not like I was bitter or anything.

Ino gave me a strange look, that turned into a knowing one. "I heard that Sasuke was talking to Naruto about you," she said slyly. I wondered if I was that gossipy before. Probably, but I still liked hearing about it.

"If you heard that from Naruto it's probably made up," I said. Naruto's stories tended to get a little out of control.

Ino shrugged. "Whatever you say."

She left a few minutes before class started, and Tenten sighed. "I kind of miss the time before you were popular," she was teasing, but I knew that what she said was true.

"Oh come on Tenten," I said, "you know you and Hinata and I are still best friends. Even though I'm practically famous now." I winked, but I couldn't help feeling that a little of it was true. Ever since I had officially become friends with Ino, and Naruto had been sitting with us at lunch, more people had been talking to me in the hallways. It was like I had suddenly stopped being invisible or something.

Tenten grumbled something. I could tell that she didn't like change, but she would get over it. I had changed since my days of popularity - it's not like I was going to ditch her now that I was getting my old friends back (even though I was the only one who knew about it). My friend group was only expanding, not becoming more exclusive.

"What do you think about this picture?" I held up the cameras that the school issued out for the yearbook committee. There was a group picture of the football team seniors on the tiny camera screen.

Tenten nodded. "I think it would make a good page for the yearbook. Nice job Sakura!"

"Thanks," I grinned.

* * *

><p>My day passed by pretty fast. Most of the teachers didn't give us a lot of work because the week was so short. I did get glared at by Karin a few times during the classes we had together though.<p>

At lunch, Sasuke was sitting at our table again. Naruto said something about Karin being in tutoring, but Hinata gave me a knowing look, and I knew that something else was going on between between Sasuke and Karin. Is it bad that it made me happy?

To my surprise, Ino and Shikamaru moved to our table too. It was almost like I had my old friends back, without all of the bitchy people. "I hope you don't mind," Ino told me, while sitting down in the chair on my right, "I'm in the mood for change."

Tenten, who was seated on my left, grumbled, but it was only loud enough for me to hear.

"Be nice," I whispered to her.

"What's going on with you guys?" Ino asked Naruto and Hinata. "Did you have a nice time this weekend?" Naruto had taken Hinata out to the city for a date. According to Hinata, it was really fancy, and Naruto had been sweet. Naruto must have saved up for that for a while.

"Getting ready for Thanksgiving," Naruto grinned, "I'm spending it with Hinata's family!"

Hinata blushed.

"That's awesome!" Ino beamed. "I've only met Shikamaru's family once." Shikamaru's parents were usually busy with their jobs - they both worked at a hospital, so they had long hours.

"You're not missing out on a lot," Shikamaru said boredly. He hated small talk.

"What are you doing for Thanksgiving, Sasuke?" said Ino brightly.

"Itachi's out of town, so it's just me," Sasuke replied. He didn't seem to be very bummed about it, but I knew that it had bothered him. Back when he remembered me, Sasuke and Naruto usually came over to my house to celebrate (my family was small, and mom always made too much food anyway). It was fun. However, my mom had announced at dinner the other night that her sister was coming over, along with her mother. In all honesty, my aunt and my grandmother weren't easy to get along with, and I wasn't looking forward to the "family time" I would have over the holiday.

When the conversation inevitably turned to me, I told everyone about how a lot of family was coming over.

"Are you excited for that?" Naruto asked.

"Overjoyed." I answered, deadpan. Hinata giggled.

Ino brought a whole new energy to the table that I hadn't realized that I missed until I got it back. We were friends again, I thought, at least I had done something right. "Sakura," she said, "we should hang out over break! We still haven't gotten a chance to go shopping yet!"

"Oh yeah!" I beamed. "We should definitely go. I know a lot of good places that you would love!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Count me out," he said, "please."

"Like you were invited," Ino laughed, "I've learned my lesson about taking you shopping with me."

* * *

><p>Art class was nice. Deidara seemed to be less concerned with teaching us, and more interested in what we could come up with on our own. Since my skills were more unrefined than the rest of the class, he would occasionally offer guidance with my techniques.<p>

"Try adding a bit of shadow there," Deidara said, gesturing to a part of my painting. It was of something simple - a pond, before a storm. At least, that's what I said it was. It was more surrealist than anything - not on purpose, of course.

I nodded, and began to do what he said-

"No," Deidara shook his head, "like this." He took the brush out of my hand and demonstrated on my painting. It suddenly looked like it had more depth.

"Wow," I said, impressed.

"Now you," he said impatiently. I tried to imitate what he had done on the painting. "Better," he said. I took it as a compliment.

"That looks good Sakura," Hinata said cheerfully. She was still working on her painting.

"So..." I said, "are you excited to have Naruto over for Thanksgiving?"

Hinata nodded, but looked uncomfortable. "A little nervous, actually," she said, "I've never taken a boy home before. Well, I've never had a boyfriend before so I don't know what my father will do." She was right, Hinata's family was tense already without her bringing someone else in the picture. Still, it they had to break the ice somehow.

"It'll be fine!" I reassured her. "Your cousin Neji's coming right?"

"Yes," said Hinata, "and my uncle and his wife. It's the first time my family's really spent time together since my grandfather died." She looked nervous about that too. Apparently after her father had seen how her and Neji were trying to get to know each other, he had decided to invite the extended family over as a way to make amends for whatever conflict had happened between them.

"So let them work it out and you and Naruto sit by Neji." I said.

She nodded. "I think that's what I'm going to do."

Art passed by quickly, and then I went to calculus again. Where I had sat so many times wishing that Sasuke would talk to me. When I sat down, he was already there this time. Besides nodding at me when I came in the room, we had no other interaction. It made me a little sad, I had thought we had been getting closer lately.

* * *

><p>The rest of the week went by in a flash, with Sasuke barely talking to me. I took comfort in the fact that my newold friends (Ino and Shikamaru) were sitting by me again at lunch. Ino had even started talking to me during English class and AP Psychology when she realized that I had those classes with her. That made Karin livid of course, but I could tell she was out for revenge - the day we got out of break, she made it a point to talk about how happy she was with Sasuke. Then, when I stood up in English to go to the board for something, she tripped me. I fell flat on my face - it was pretty embarrassing.

However, Ino was still convinced that she had been trying to hold on to Sasuke. "Look at how stuck up she's being," she told me, after witnessing my little fall in English, "she's resorting to physical violence. You know there's something up." I had never told her, but Ino knew about my feelings for Sasuke, and I knew she was on my side about it. I guess we still had a connection, even though she didn't remember how close we used to be.

I was a little crushed about the Sasuke situation before break. I knew there was no use in dwelling on it - because he certainly wouldn't be. I would just have to try harder, I thought. But how? Sometimes it seemed like Sasuke wouldn't open up to me. There were times when I thought he would - like at the Homecoming Dance - but it was like he would just retreat back into himself. Away from me.

When I made it home at the end of the day, I was in a bad mood. My parents had gone out with some of their friends into the city, so I was alone for the night. I took the opportunity to sit in bed and read one of my favorite Jane Austen books. I found it nice that, after everything had changed, my book preferences hadn't. Reading had made me feel a little better, and I fell asleep holding my book.

* * *

><p><em>I was at Sasuke's house, and we were sitting on the couch again, watching a movie. I had my head on his shoulder again, and he seemed like he was preoccupied with something. <em>

_"Is everything okay?" I asked. _

_Sasuke looked up, as if he was in a daze, and smiled. "Yes," he said, "sorry, I was just thinking." _

_I looked up at him. It was like he was worrying about something. "What's up?" _

_"Just thinking about college." I could tell he was lying. _

_"Fine," I said, "if you want to tell me what it really is, just let me know." I grinned.  
><em>

_He just rolled his eyes. "I'll let you know later," he promised. "Now is a bad time." _

_I went to put my head back on his shoulder, but I was suddenly in the emergency room. Naruto was sitting nearby, with his head in his hands. Itachi was standing up, looking shocked for a second, and then hiding behind a scowl. There was a doctor with a face that I could barely make out in front of us. _

_"Sasuke didn't make it," she was saying, "I'm sorry." _

_"No," I said. Someone was screaming. I didn't realize it was me until my throat had started to hurt and I was running away from everyone. I didn't realize where I was going until I ended up in front of him. It was almost like he was sleeping, but not quite. _

_"I'm sorry!" I screamed. "I'm sorry, Sasuke. Please come back - please-" I couldn't speak anymore, I was sobbing so hard. Everything seemed to go black, until my crying died down and all I could do was keep repeating the same words over and over. "Don't leave me... don't leave me..." _

I woke up, sobbing. The dream had felt so real, like it was the night at the hospital all over again. I remembered how terrified and broken I felt when I realized that Sasuke probably wouldn't make it through the night. Suddenly, I couldn't handle being inside anymore.

It was seven o' clock in the morning, and I dressed in the warmest clothes I could find at the time, and - after leaving my parents a hurried note about how I was going for a walk - burst out of the door and down my driveway. I felt like running away at that point. I felt overwhelmed by everything, especially the dream I just had about Sasuke dying. I was scared and exhausted, but most of all I was relieved. I was glad that Sasuke wasn't dead. I didn't think I could handle him losing his life like that. I didn't want him to leave me behind.

But then, I thought, he was doing that now without realizing it. And that broke my heart.

When I was outside, I ran until I found a park that Sasuke and I used to go to together to do homework. I found the old oak tree that we used to sit under, and took my place there.

I think I knew she was going to show up, because I didn't even flinch when she found me. "Hello, Sakura."

"Konan," I said, "it's been a while." Today she was wearing a long grey dress, with the same white flower in her hair.

"Indeed it has," she replied, leaning against the tree. "I see you've... progressed."

"Barely." I suddenly felt exhausted, "It's like, when I can finally get him to even _talk _to me it's great. And then he ignores me for the next few weeks. Is that how he treated all of the other girls? Because it's frustrating."

"I didn't say this would be easy," Konan said, but she sounded tired too this time.

"Where have you been, by the way?" I asked. "Are there others that you're... monitoring?"

Konan had a brooding look on her face, but that turned into a mysterious smile. "There may be others," she said, "but it is no concern of you."

"Whatever," I flung myself back on the tree, "it's not like I'll be around much longer. Come on, tell me."

She only sighed. "You're making progress," she told me. "It's small, but it's there. Remember that."

"Are you trying to help me?" I said, incredulous. But then she was gone and I was alone with my thoughts again.

What did she mean by that? Was it more that I thought? It made me wonder if I still had a chance - it certainly didn't feel like I did. I sighed, was she only saying that to mess with me? I wasn't even sure who (or what) Konan was. Could I trust her?

After considering it, I thought I should trust the witch-lady. Because what else did I have to lose anyway?

I was getting ready to leave after sitting under the tree for awhile - I had been thinking about the times I had been there with Sasuke, but this time I didn't feel as sad, when I heard a rustling of leaves.

"Er, hello," I heard a familiar voice, and saw Sasuke looking down at me.

"Sasuke?" I was suddenly thankful that he hadn't found me crying. "What are you doing here?"

"I should ask you that," he smirked.

"I come here sometimes to be alone," I said. That was true at least - I used to come here by myself sometimes. After everything happened though, I hadn't come back here because I didn't want to make myself sad.

"I do too," he seemed surprised, "but I've never seen you here before."

I shrugged. "I used to come here more often but... I used to come with a friend and it's never been the same since." I had stuck my foot in my mouth again. What was I going to tell him now?

To my surprise though, he just sat down beside me. "I used to come here with a friend too," he admitted. "But it's... strange."

"How so?" I said, a little too quickly.

"It's like they're there, but I can't quite focus on them." Sasuke shook his head. "That probably sounds crazy."

"No," I said, "it really doesn't." Did that mean he could kind of remember me? Were the memories still there somehow - only hidden from him? That gave me some hope. Was there a way that I could remind him without seeming crazy?

He only shrugged, but seemed bothered. "You remind me of them," he admitted, "only I don't understand."

I wasn't sure what to say to that.

"I'm sorry," he said, "that probably sounds strange."

"I've heard stranger," I smiled. I'd experienced stranger, more like it. "Are you having a good break?"

Sasuke only shrugged. "My brother Itachi said he would be here, but he just called me this morning to say that he has to travel out of the country where Thanksgiving doesn't exist to do something. So it really is just me." He smirked. Something told me that he was alone though.

"I'm sorry," I said earnestly. I wasn't sure why he was opening up like this to me. Was it because I still remembered him of his friend (me)? I wished that I could invite him over, or ask him to hang out, but I didn't want to push him away. Besides, Karin would probably invite him over anyway.

"It's fine," he replied, "I'm used to it."

"Thanksgiving's overrated anyway," I told him, "I'm just hoping that my family won't kill each other."

He snorted at my tone of voice, and for a second it was like old times again.

"No, really!" I insisted. "My mom almost _murdered _my aunt the last time everyone was over! They're crazy!"

We talked for a little while under the tree. Not about anything much, mostly about schoolwork and our friends. It still felt a little forced, but I could feel him opening up more to me. Was it sitting in one of our old spots that made him act like this?

"I should probably go," I said after a while, "my parents are probably wondering where I am." How long had it been anyway? I looked at the screen on my phone - it had been about an hour and a half.

"I'll walk with you," Sasuke said, surprising me even more. What had gotten into him?

On the way there, we talked. "How do you think Naruto's going to do with Hinata's family?" I asked jokingly.

He smirked. "I think that it could go either way - the Hyuuga's will either want to throw him out or they'll love him."

"Everything that has to do with Naruto is kind of extreme," I said.

He agreed. "He can be... aggressive."

I laughed. "Like the time he tackled me in the hallway!"

"I apologized for that," he said. For a second I thought he was about to smile.

"I guess," I said, "he still hasn't made it up to me though." I tossed my hair precociously.

Sasuke just shook his head. This was the closest we'd ever gotten to talking like we used to, and I was ecstatic. "We're here," he said.

I had been so absorbed with talking to him that I hadn't noticed we'd gotten to my house. He must have remembered from the time Naruto dropped me off after the football banquet. I was oddly touched.

"Well, thanks," I said. "Have a good Thanksgiving!"

"Thanks," he said, "you too."

I walked inside in a hurry - I felt excited and strangely nervous. It was a nice change from how I had felt after I woke up. Everything felt lighter now that I had seen Sasuke. I wondered if that was a normal feeling if you loved someone.

"So," my mom was standing beside the door in a pink bathrobe, holding a cup of coffee, "who's that?"

"No one," I said quickly. "Just someone I go to school with, we ran into each other when I was walking."

She eyed me for a second, and then took a sip of coffee. "He's cute," she said.

"He's taken," I sighed, but she shrugged.

"Family's coming today, and I need you to clean your room," she told me. "Grandma's sleeping in your room."

"What!?" I said.

"Please just do this for me," she begged. "I'm giving your aunt the guest bedroom and I can't leave them together. You know how my family gets." Of course I did - Grandma always bothered my aunt (divorced, with no kids) when she was going to get married again and give her grandchildren. Apparently I didn't count.

"Fine," I said, "but please let me get out sometime during Thanksgiving. If I don't have a room I don't know what I'm going to do to be alone."

"Deal," she said, and smiled. "Thank you sweetie."

"Don't mention it," I grumbled, and went upstairs. To be honest, I was glad that I had more time to myself, because I could think more about what I was going to do about Sasuke. After having the dream (and having a reality check) and then getting to see him, I realized that he did remember me, even if it was vague.

That gave me hope.

* * *

><p>My family arrived that night, and I could already feel the tension. It was nice to see them, though. It kind of hit me hard when I realized that this Thanksgiving could be my last. Despite the chance that they were going to fight the whole time, I was happy that my mom invited the family over. At least I would get to see them again.<p>

I tried to keep that mindset through the whole break, but by Thanksgiving, I wanted some time away from them. My grandma complained the whole time she was there, and always got offended if things didn't go according to her schedule. I got along better with my aunt, who was a more cynical version of my mom.

"So, do you have a boyfriend?" She asked.

"Almost," my mom chimed in, "he walked by the house yesterday!" She had already had her share of wine today - apparently drinking was how my mom got through spending time with her family.

"Oh really," my aunt said slyly, "was he cute?"

"Very," Mom giggled.

I looked at my dad, who was sitting uncomfortably in the corner. We had already eaten dinner (it was now later in the afternoon), and I felt like it was time for me to go now. Especially if they were asking about Sasuke, which was something I did _not _want to have to explain to them (especially since my parents used to know Sasuke's family, and insist on inviting him over after they died).

"I'm going to take a walk," I looked at my mom.

She smiled. "Be careful!"

Once I was out of the house, I sighed. I hadn't planned on going anywhere, I just wanted some fresh air after spending so much time with family. But when I was outside the gate, I saw Sasuke again.

"Hey," I said, "are you walking again?"

"What else would I be doing?" He said. He seemed upset about something.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him. He probably wouldn't answer, but I couldn't help but ask.

"It's nothing," he sighed, and I decided not to press it. He would tell me if he was ready. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know," I said, "I'm really just trying to get away from everyone for a while." I wondered why he was walking by my house - his was close, but it was at least a neighborhood away. We didn't live in the rich part of town like Sasuke did.

"Walk with me?" Sasuke said, and his voice almost sounded like it did when we were friends. Not quite, but close.

I nodded. "That sounds great."


	11. Chapter 11

_"I only wish that you would return home to me  
><em>_And I could bathe in your familiarity  
><em>_But I realize this is a hopeless dream  
><em>_We have traveled too far." _

_-Dear Reader, "Elephant"_

* * *

><p>As we walked, I couldn't help but look at his hand. Sasuke had nice hands, and I wished I had realized that sooner - before everything happened, I mean. I really wanted him to hold my hand at that moment, but I knew that wasn't possible. For instance, he was still dating Karin (as much as I hated it), and I knew Sasuke was faithful in his relationships, no matter how bitchy they were. It was something that I respected about him.<p>

So there would be no hand-holding - I knew that at least.

Still, we talked more about our families as we walked. I feel like Sasuke had been wanting to get it off his chest for a while, because it all seemed to spill out. Maybe Naruto had been so busy with Hinata that he hadn't realized that Sasuke needed to talk.

"It's great having the house to myself sometimes," Sasuke said, "but it's frustrating too. Ever since our parents died, Itachi's always been at work." He avoided my gaze - a classic Uchiha move when they didn't want to show emotion. Sasuke's dad was just like that before he died, and so was Itachi. The only person in Sasuke's family who was remotely keen on emotions was his mom. Of course, I couldn't tell him I knew that.

"I'm sorry," I said, "have you tried talking to him about it?"

He shook his head. "It wouldn't do any good. My family isn't one to... talk." That was for sure, I thought. In fact, after his parents died, Sasuke had been over at my house a lot, even sleeping over in the guest room sometimes when my mom insisted. My parents were close with Sasuke's family (from us being friends), and wanted to make sure he was taken care of.

Now, I wasn't sure if he was okay. I knew he had Naruto, but Naruto was always busy with something. Granted, so was Sasuke, but it must have been lonely living by himself without Itachi most of the time.

I shrugged. "Sometimes you have to," I said, "if you want things to get better." I had told him that about Itachi before.

"I know," he sighed, "I've been told that before." At least he remembered my advice! Just not who gave it to him.

I could tell he didn't want to talk about it anymore (after knowing him for so long, I could basically read his mind), so I changed the subject. "Do you have plans for Christmas?"

He shrugged. "The same thing, pretty much. I'm just going to focus on my GPA for the rest of the semester... You already know I want to get into Harvard." He gave me a wry look.

I blushed, remembering my slip-up months ago. "Hey," I said, "I heard that from someone."

"Keep it a secret, okay?" He said. "I'm not going to tell anyone until the spring."

"Of course," I said, happy that he was confiding something in me. Even though I already knew it.

"Have you thought about where you're going?" He asked me.

At the beginning of the semester, with the hope of getting Sasuke to love me and still wanting to go to college later on, I had already filled out my college applications. I had done my best to recreate my essays from the last time I wrote them, and I think they turned out pretty good.

"I'm not sure yet," I admitted. Last time, I had been accepted into a state school with the program I wanted for medicine, but I wasn't sure if I wanted that anymore. I felt like I had made myself up to be someone who was interested in that - and while I was good at science, I found myself enjoying English and Art better than my other classes. Maybe it was because I was just trying to enjoy myself before I died at this point, but I was at a loss for what to do in the future.

"There's still time," Sasuke said. But my time was running out. Thankfully, I had already submitted my applications to a variety of schools - from well-renowned to state schools, to the community college nearby (because what the heck).

"I'm not worried," I said, "I'll figure something out when it comes to it. Right now, I'm just focusing on other things."

"I wish I could do that." Sasuke said. "I'm so busy, I just want a break sometimes."

I nodded. "Doesn't everyone?"

We talked like that for a while, and I felt myself losing track of time. It was like we had catching up to do - I asked him about how everything was going for him. He was happy for Naruto and Hinata, but he hadn't been spending as much time with his friend, and I could tell he was lonely. He had been hanging out with Neji Hyuuga a lot, apparently, and knew all about their families being together for Thanksgiving.

"Neji doesn't have a girlfriend, does he?" I asked him.

"What," he said, "are you interested?"

I laughed. If only he knew. "No, I'm just thinking." Maybe I could set him up with Tenten before I left. Something told me that their personalities would go together really well.

He only shook his head. "Whatever you're thinking, leave me out of it."

When it was time for me to go back home, I apologized to him. "My family's only here until tomorrow morning," I said.

"I need to go back anyway," he said. I wondered if it made him sad. I knew he could get anyone he wanted, as popular as Sasuke was, it wouldn't be hard. But I knew that he had a hard time opening up to most people - Sasuke was only really close to Naruto and me (when I was still relevant). Still, it made me sad. I wanted to keep him company, and I wanted to make sure he was okay. Even if it was just as friends, I wanted to be relevant again.

"I'll see you at school," I said, "have a good rest of the break."

He nodded. "Goodnight."

When I walked back inside, my mom was waiting for me. "So," she said, "any new developments?" I swear, sometimes my mom was so weird.

"No mom," I said, "he's just a friend."

"'Just a friend' my ass!" Called my aunt from the living room.

"You're grandmother's upstairs in your room," my mom said apologetically, "she's in bed already because they have an early flight tomorrow. You should probably go say goodbye, unless you want to wake up at three in the morning."

I nodded, and walked up to my room, where I found my grandma in my bed reading my copy of _Pride and Prejudice. _Now that I thought about it, she was the one who introduced me to those books in the first place.

"It's good to see you still reading our favorites," she smiled. Although she could be hard to get along with sometimes, I always knew that she loved me. And sometimes that was all I needed.

"Of course I am," I said, suddenly feeling sad. This could be the last time I saw her - we usually visited in the summer, but I wouldn't have another one of those if I wasn't careful.

"You'll have to come to my house in the summer," she said, "before you go off to school. I have some more books I think you'll like."

"That sounds great, Grandma." I said, and I meant it.

We talked a little more - about how my classes were going, and about my friends (who's names she never remembered), but it was nice. She told me a story about some of the ladies that she played cards with on Sundays, and it was funny. It was almost similar to the gossip in high school that I thought I would escape one day. Then, when she insisted that she needed to get some sleep before the morning, I said goodnight.

"I love you," she said, "and I'm so proud of you." I had to leave before she saw me cry.

* * *

><p>On Monday when we came back to school, it was like everything was ablaze with gossip from the weekend. Apparently Naruto's presence at the Hyuuga family dinner was a hit, and Hinata's family loved him now (I heard this from Hinata, of course). I wasn't surprised - everyone loved Naruto, or ended up loving him after getting to know him better. Even though he wasn't the smartest, and was loud most of the time, there was something about him that everyone adored.<p>

The other stories had to do with a lot of my classmates getting together the night before and getting wasted. Which explained the large amount of hungover students that day. It had been a party at Kiba's house the day before, and only the "elite" of the school were invited (I wasn't invited of course, but I heard about it from Ino when we were shopping the day before - she was only thinking about making an appearance, even after ditching Kiba for Shikamaru at the Homecoming dance). From what I heard, Karin had been there and she had been rather... promiscuous. To say the least.

While this made me a little smug - Sasuke should have known better than to go out with that idiot, but then again, it wasn't his fault that Karin was a bitch - it also made me feel sorry for Sasuke. I wondered if he heard about what happened (even I didn't know the details).

I could tell that something big had happened the day before, because Karin didn't have the energy to taunt me during English. She just groaned, and put her head on her desk. There was a large bottle of water sitting next to her - probably provided by her friend Ami, who looked better, but still looked a little miserable. Good. I hoped their hangovers lasted all day.

To my surprised, Ino was fine. "Sakura!" She said, brightly. "Thanks so much for hanging out this weekend! It was awesome!"

Ami scowled at me, but it seemed like that was the only thing she had energy for.

"No problem," I grinned, "we'll have to do it again sometime." I said this while I was walking over to sit by Hinata, who was smiling slyly beneath a book she was reading in her spot at the back of the class. "What's up?" I said. "You look like you're up to something."

Hinata giggled. "It's nothing," she said, "just... you've changed."

"What do you mean?" I said. I hoped she wasn't mad about me hanging out with my new friends or something. Not like Tenten, who - although she didn't vocalize it - had a permanently sour look on her face during lunchtime - now that Ino and Shikamaru (and usually Sasuke) had started sitting with us too.

"I can't explain it," Hinata said, "it's not bad. You just look happier." She smiled. "I'm happy for you is all." Hinata was so sweet. I was really glad that we had become friends in my time of need.

The rest of the day passed by easily - for me, at least. I noticed that Sasuke wasn't at lunch that day, which was weird, and not even Naruto knew where he was. I suddenly had a bad feeling about it, and hoped that he was okay.

It wasn't until after calculus that I finally got to talk to him.

"Hey," I said, "you weren't at lunch today. Is everything okay?"

"I broke up with my girlfriend." He said bluntly. I wondered why he was suddenly spilling everything to me - and then I realized that I didn't care, as long as he was talking to me. He wasn't showing emotion, but that didn't mean he wasn't upset.

"I-I'm sorry," I said. Were the rumors about Karin this weekend true?

"Not your fault," he grumbled, "I just don't appreciate dating girls that make out with other guys." So they were true! That bitch! I was torn between being elated that Sasuke was single again, and wanting to punch Karin in the face for hurting him.

"Well, let me know if you need anything," I said, "I've been in the same position before, and it sucks." Well, that was true. When I had been dating Kiba (the second time after we broke up) I had caught him cheating on me with some junior girl after a pep rally. Honestly, it didn't really surprise me, but it still hurt.

He only nodded. "I'll do that," he said.

"Does this make us friends now?" I blurted out. Dammit Sakura!

"Yeah," he smirked, "I guess it does."

I said goodbye to him then, trying to make it seem like what he said hadn't been something I had been hoping to hear for months. Inside, I was celebrating. For me, having Sasuke tell me that I was his friend now meant more than anything.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Hello everyone! Thank you so much for your awesome reviews! :) I really appreciate hearing from everyone - you guys are awesome! Anyway, this chapter isn't as long as the other ones I've written so far, but I have a feeling that the next one will be pretty long. I hope that the dialogue doesn't sound strained, and if there's anything you want to suggest to me that you think will make my writing better, please tell me! It doesn't have to be something like spelling or grammar either. I would love to hear feedback about the flow of the story, and stuff like that too.

As always, please review and let me know what you think! I'll try to get the next chapter out soon. :)


	12. Chapter 12

And so began my newfound friendship with Sasuke.

I have to admit, things were still different between us than they had once been, but I had also had eight years to build a relationship with him - not a few months. So I would say, for the amount that he had gotten to know me, that we were close enough for now.

Being friends with Sasuke meant that he would sit at our lunch table permanently now (one of the main reasons, of course, was that he no longer had a girlfriend to make him sit with her friends - but I didn't think about that), and was more willing to talk to me (even though he wasn't very talkative, he still answered my questions at least).

There was also a new development in who sat with us at lunch - Neji Hyuga began to sit with us as well (being one of Sasuke's friends, of course). This seemed to really irritate Tenten, for some reason - I guess she had a secret grudge against him for some reason? I would have to ask her about that later.

"Be nice," I said, the day that we discovered Neji sitting next to Sasuke.

She grumbled, but compromised by saying nothing at all to him.

"So I'm having a Christmas party," Ino said to me that day after lunch, "and you're invited of course. I'm only inviting a few people - only the ones I like this time, you see." She grinned.

"That sounds great." I said. It looked like I was slowly getting back into the inner circle of my old friends, and that felt fantastic.

"So I heard Sasuke broke up with Karin," said Ino suggestively. "Do you think you're going to make a move?"

"Honestly, I'm mostly just interested in being his friend right now." I admitted. That was sort of true. I mean, I did want to build up a friendship with Sasuke before doing anything about the feelings I had about him. That was mostly because I figured that if we were best friends again he might start getting feelings for me of his own (like before).

"Riiiight," Ino teased. "Well, it's your decision, Sakura. But you know how many girls are going to be trying to get into his pants now that he's single again. I mean, they were already trying to when he had a girlfriend." That was also true, but I was sure that Sasuke wasn't interested in any of them. At least, I thought I was.

I only shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "We'll see," I said.

I thought about what we talked about for the rest of the day. I was pretty sure that Sasuke didn't want to date anyone that I knew of. But then again, he had surprised me with Karin, how could I be sure that he wouldn't do something like that again? It would be hard to get him to fall in love with my by the time we graduated if he kept dating other girls.

I sighed. It was hard trying to date your best friend. Especially since they didn't remember you were even best friends in the first place! Ugh, why did Sasuke have to date other people?

The rest of the week passed by without anything really happening. Karin seemed to be more out to get me than ever - she was now trying to trip me whenever she got the chance, making rude comments to me in the hallway, and spreading as many rumors about me as she could. Luckily for me, I wasn't popular like I was before, so most people didn't know who she was talking about when she said things like "Sakura Haruno is a boyfriend-stealing whore." It was kind of amusing, actually, watching her struggle to bring me down. Idiot.

The most interesting thing that happened all week was probably the weekly Yearbook Club meeting with Tenten. Since she had become editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, it had turned in to a joint Yearbook/School Newspaper meeting. It was kind of funny to realize that most of the Yearbook Club was part of the newspaper anyway.

Despite my escalating social life, I had still found time to take pictures during school - and after sometimes, when there was an event going on. That day, Tenten had me going through the photos that the freshmen members had taken.

"This is really well-done," I complimented a girl whose name I had a hard time remembering - I think it was Matsuri. She had taken some pictures from the banquet a few weeks ago, and had gotten some great pictures of the team receiving awards, and members with their dates. "I think a lot of these will definitely make the yearbook."

"Really?" She sounded ecstatic.

"Yeah!" I smiled.

I did that for the rest of the meeting, at the same time listening to Tenten's report on how she thought the newspaper was going ("There needs to be more action, people!"), and still thinking about Sasuke (but was that really a surprise?).

Once the meeting was over, and I had picked out pictures to go in the school newspaper and some potential ones for the yearbook, I waited for Tenten to gather her things so I could talk to her.

"So I was thinking," I said, "sleepover at my house this Friday with Hinata?" Some people might say that we were too old for sleepovers, but I wanted to hang out with Hinata and Tenten alone for the first time in awhile. Although I was overjoyed to have my old friends back, I still wanted to maintain the relationship between my new friends too - something that I feared that I had been neglecting.

Tenten had been grumpy that day, so I was surprised to see that she perked up immediately when I asked. "I think I can make time for it," she said, which I took as a yes. Hinata had been really excited for the sleepover when I told her about my idea during English (Kakashi was getting to class later and later as the year progressed, giving everyone at least five to fifteen minutes to talk).

I didn't expect to run into Sasuke and Naruto when I was walking to my car.

"Sakuraaaaa!" Naruto shouted from the other end of the hallway.

"Hey guys," I said, "what are you still doing here?"

"Sasuke had a student council meeting," said Naruto happily, "and he's my ride."

"You don't have to talk for me," Sasuke said. "We had to have an extra meeting today because our Vice President resigned." Our Class VP was a guy named Suigetsu Hozuki. He was pretty smart, but he got really stressed out and had to resign from his position. He was also one of Karin's best friends (which was weird, because I actually liked Suigetsu back when I got to talk to him).

"Have you found a replacement yet?" I asked him, genuinely curious. Maybe Tenten would want to apply for it - she seemed power-crazy as it was sometimes, but she was a good leader nonetheless.

He shook his head. "We're going to make nominations on Monday and vote on Wednesday. There's going to be a debate and everything."

"Wow," I said, "that's intense."

"It's something," he agreed.

I walked with them until we got to the parking lot, and Naruto said, "We're going to get ramen for dinner Sakura, you should come with us!"

"First of all," Sasuke said, "I never said I was taking you to get ramen..." But I could tell that he was about to break. It might seem like it, but Sasuke usually gave in to Naruto. He used to do the same for me when we were best friends, actually.

"I'm in," I said, "I'm hungry anyway." Plus, my parents were out again on a date night, so I would have to fend for myself for dinner.

"Then let's go!" Naruto said, grinning, "I'll ride with Sakura so she's not lonely!"

Sasuke looked at me, and then shrugged. I just laughed. "My car's over here," I told Naruto.

Once we were in the car, Naruto carried most of the conversation. "Thanks for introducing me to Hinata," was the first thing that he said, "she's sooo much better than Ami." Naruto could be blunt sometimes, but at least he told the truth.

"You don't have to thank me," I said, but I still felt smug. I was like a matchmaker for my friends - and it was awesome. "All I did was tell you to ask her to dance, so you pretty much did all the work."

He grinned. "If you put it that way..."

We talked the whole way to the restaurant. I was actually really excited, because it would be like old times again when I used to hang out with Sasuke and Naruto. It was kind of funny, actually, because Naruto had hated me when I first became friends with Sasuke. Later on, he told me it was because he was afraid I was going to take Sasuke away from him. I understood why he was so insecure about it - he had lost his parents, and Sasuke had been his only friend in elementary school, before he met me of course. Once Naruto realized that I wasn't there to steal his best friend, he warmed up to me pretty fast.

Dinner was fun too - Naruto kept up enough energy to keep the conversation going, and Sasuke really seemed to open up (for Sasuke, I mean). It was the first time since I had to start over that I saw him laugh a little (Naruto was telling a story about how he was trying to copy a girl's biology notes in class, and she had thought he was actually staring at her chest and punched him).

"Why would she think that about me, Sasuke?" Naruto said, his mouth full of ramen. I forgot how much he loved that stuff.

"Who knows?" Sasuke said.

"What are you doing for Christmas break?" I asked them. My parents were actually going out of town to visit some of their old college friends. They had invited me, but I declined. I didn't want to miss any time with my friends over the holidays. They would be back for Christmas, of course, but I would be on my own for five days.

"Nothing, really." Sasuke said boredly. "I think Itachi's probably going to be here for Christmas, but after that he'll probably take off a week to go on vacation with his work friends." He sounded a little bitter, but not too much. Itachi and Sasuke didn't have the closest relationship before their parents died - with Sasuke being five years younger than his brother, and Itachi always having to be out of town for business now that he was the heir to their father's company. I knew that Itachi loved his little brother though, especially since I couldn't stop thinking about his face in the emergency room...

I had to stop thinking about that.

"I'll be hanging out with Sasuke!" Naruto declared. "What are you doing?"

I told them about how my parents were going out of town, and how I was probably going to stay home most of the time.

"You should come hang out with us, Sakura!" Naruto said. He said this so loudly that the couple sitting at a table nearby turned around to look at us. "Wouldn't that be fun Sasuke?!"

Sasuke shrugged. "Sure," he said dully. I knew him enough to tell that he meant it.

Once we were done eating, we said goodbye and I drove back home (alone this time). So I would get to see Sasuke during break. This made me extremely happy. We weren't as close as we used to be, but that would only take time, and I was sure that I could win him over. It was comforting, actually.

* * *

><p>On Friday night, at the sleepover I was having, a lot happened. It started with me giving Tenten and Hinata makeup lessons (not that they needed it, but I wanted them to know, just in case I wasn't always there to help them). Once I was done giving them makeovers (and they had successfully learned how to apply the right amount of makeup to their faces), I did their hair too.<p>

"Just let me!" I begged, when Tenten refused to let me touch the two buns she usually put her hair in. "I'm trying to help you!"

"Fine!" She snapped. Ignoring her, I proceeded to pull her hair out of the buns, until her hair was down. Tenten's hair was actually really beautiful, I thought, she just needed to learn how to utilize it.

"See?" I said. "It looks better already."

Hinata, who seemed to get nervous when our voices were raised - we weren't actually mad at each other, that's just how Tenten and I talked sometimes. Watched quietly as I tampered with Tenten's hair. I didn't do anything crazy - I just brushed it out, and used a flat-iron to straighten it. Combined with the makeup I put on her - it really accentuated her eyes, which were a deep brown - she looked beautiful.

"Look at this," I said, and handed her a mirror.

Tenten started at herself for a second, as if she was in disbelief, and then shook her head. "I look completely different!" She complained.

"True," I said, "but you look really good!"

Hinata nodded. "I really like your hair like that, Tenten." It wasn't like the buns were terrible - they really weren't - I just wanted to see how she would look like with her hair down, and she looked... really good actually.

"Tenten," I said, "don't take this the wrong way but... you look _hot._"

"That," Tenten said grumpily, "is not the goal."

"Why not?" I pretended to pout. "Come on, just wear your hair like this to school next Monday and tell me it doesn't make you feel more confident!"

"I'm confident enough," said Tenten stubbornly. That was true, I thought, she was certainly stubborn enough to refuse a cute new hairdo from me! She should be grateful! In fact, when I was a sophomore I was so good at doing hair that upperclassmen girls would pay me to do their hair for prom. It was a really good way to make money, actually. But that wasn't the point.

"How about we play a game?" I said slyly.

I had her attention then. "What kind of game?" If there was one thing I knew about Tenten, it was how competitive she was.

"Sakura," said Hinata, catching on to what I was trying to do, "I don't think that's a good idea-"

"What kind of game, Sakura?" Tenten had a strange gleam in her eye that I usually saw when she was talking about becoming the new editor-in-chief or something. It was kind of scary, but I pressed on.

"A card game," I said, looking around my room for my deck of cards. Aha! I found it in my desk drawer. "It's easy to learn." I explained the rules, and Tenten listened intensely. Hinata only shook her head from where she was sitting on the floor.

"Okay," I said, laying the cards down on the floor, "we're going to play. But if I win, you have to wear your hair like that to school Monday." I knew she would do it too, because I had seen Tenten get this way before with some of the freshmen in the Yearbook Club with a board game.

"Fine," Tenten said, "but if I win you have to let me do your makeup for school on Monday... anything I want."

"Fine," I agreed, "let's do this. Hinata, would you mind being the dealer?"

Hinata, happy to be left out of the competition, but still being included, nodded. I explained how to deal, and then the game started.

I had to give it to Tenten - she really gave it her all, and I even thought that she might win for a second, but ultimately I ended up winning.

"I'll see you on Monday," I said, "with your hair down, my friend."

Tenten only glowered at me, but I had won the game.

We watched a movie after that, and it wasn't until we were ready to go to sleep that we started talking. To sleep, we had put as many blankets on the floor as we could find and used them as make-shift bed. I ended up between Tenten and Hinata.

"So Tenten," I said, breaking the temporary silence that happened when Hinata turned off the lights. For a second, the only light I could see was the blue one cast from my cell phone charger. Then, my eyes adjusted and I could see the faint outline of everything in my room. "Do you _like _anyone yet?" I had asked her that question at the beginning of the year, only to have her scoff at me and not answer. Now I figured that we were close enough for her to spill.

Tenten snorted. "If you think I have time to be _dating_-"

"I'm not asking that," I said simply, "I'm just wondering if anyone's caught your eye."

She was silent for a second. "No," she said then. But I could tell.

"Fine," I said, "but I'll figure it out. I always do... How are things with Naruto, Hinata? Did you know that he thanked me for introducing you guys the other day?" I changed the subject so Tenten didn't think I was attacking her or anything. She could be a bit abrasive sometimes, but I could tell that she had a sensitive side.

We talked like that for a while, until we reached the point where everyone was falling asleep.

Before I completely passed out, Tenten mumbled something.

"Huh?" I said, groggily.

"I do like someone," she said, quietly enough that if I hadn't been listening I wouldn't have heard it at all.

"Who is it?" I said, feeling like I was slowly falling asleep while I talked.

"I'm not telling you," Tenten said, "you're going to have to figure it out for yourself."

"Deal," I mumbled, before completely passing out.

* * *

><p>On Monday, I was pleased to see that Tenten had followed through on her side of the bet. Her hair, as promised, was down - and she had even done extra and put on makeup like I showed her to at the sleepover on Friday! It was like I was looking at a whole new person, honestly (again, it wasn't like she wasn't pretty without the different hair and makeup, it was just a different kind of pretty).<p>

"I hope you're happy," she told me before first period, "one of the members of the school newspaper didn't even recognize me!"

"I told you," I said smugly, "you look hot!"

She only rolled her eyes, and walked away - probably off to do something for the Yearbook during her off-period.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I didn't know how much my makeover on Tenten would affect the balance of the school. I had heard rumors about a bossy new girl all day, and it was only until lunch when Naruto invited Tenten to sit with us that I realized they had been talking about her.

"Naruto," I said, trying not to laugh, "it's Tenten."

"Who's that?" He said, looking clueless. Naruto wasn't the most observant sometimes.

I just shook my head. "Forget it," I said, still feeling like I could laugh.

"It's weird," Tenten said, "everyone's been looking at me different all day. They think I'm a new girl, but even when they do notice it's me they treat me different. I feel like I have... more power." I saw the same gleam in her eye like I had on Friday night. It was kind of scary, actually, but I was happy to see that she seemed pleased by everyone's reactions.

"Who's the new girl?" I could hear Neji say to Sasuke.

"I'm not new!" Tenten snapped at him. "It's me, Tenten!" Suddenly, I realized something. _How could I be so stupid? _I thought. Of course, it would make sense given Tenten's personality. It was suddenly obvious to me that the person she liked was Neji Hyuga.

I smirked at her, and she glared at me. I don't think she knew, though. And to think I was considering setting them up anyway - how clever was I!?

Besides everyone's reactions to Tenten, nothing new happened that day, besides Ino inviting more people to her Christmas party, which was going to be the Friday that school ended for the semester. Everything except something surprising that happened during last period.

I was sitting in Calculus, talking to Sasuke while we did a worksheet (we were both pretty good at math, and could do it quickly while we talked - also, it helped that I had technically taken this class before, I guess), when the announcements came on.

"Good afternoon everyone," I heard the voice of Principle Tsunade over the intercom, "now is the time to announce the nominations for Student Body Vice President." I heard a shuffling of papers, and wondered why she hadn't gotten the sheet out before starting the announcements - although she was a great Principle, Tsunade wasn't the most organized. "Alright," she said, "the nominations are as follows: Sakura Haruno,"- I gasped, what!? -"Shikamaru Nara, and Ami Watanabe. There will be a debate on Wednesday during first and second period, and there will be voting after that. Choose wisely," said Tsunade dryly, "the candidate you ultimately select will be your new Vice President for half a year. Thank you for your attention." The announcements cut off, and I suddenly felt everyone in the room staring at me.

"Do you know who nominated me?" I asked Sasuke. He was the President, after all.

"Naruto," he said, "and I think Hinata seconded it." Of course she did, I thought.

"And I'm running against Shikamaru," I said, "and Ami..." They were both way more popular than me, so of course one of them would win. Should I even bother making speech? Typically, the "debate" was more of a speech and then an interview - the candidate for each position would make a speech about what they hope to accomplish, and then the student body would ask them questions. Simple enough, I thought, it wasn't like I had stage fright or anything. "Is it even worth it?"

Sasuke didn't get the change to answer, because Asuma, our calculus teacher, decided to go over one of the problems on the worksheet she had handed out. Oh well, I thought, I would just ask him later.

After school ended, most of my friends found me to talk about the nomination.

"I'm sorry," Hinata said bashfully, "but Naruto talked me into it."

"Hey!" Naruto said playfully. "It was just as much your idea as it was mine!"

"So," Ino had come to find me too, "I guess you and my boyfriend are rivals." She had an amused grin on her face. "I think you should go for it, of course, if you want to."

"You should do it, Sakura," Tenten, who had been passing by, stopped to make a comment. "It'll be good for the school."

"Yeah," Hinata said, "I think you should do it too."

Of course they all did, I thought. _They _didn't have to write a speech in day! But then again, it did sound kind of fun to be Vice President. Maybe if I got the position I could make a difference in the school before I left. Plus, if I did get the chance to go to college, it would look good on an application. Plus, I would get more time with Sasuke.

"Fine," I said, "I'll do it."

And that was how I, Sakura Haruno, started running for Vice President of the student body.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Thank you all so much for your awesome reviews! :) I don't really have anything to say, besides please let me know what you think of the new chapter! Thank you all so much for reading!


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry it took so long for me to update (almost two months... :()! As you can see, I'm still working on the story and doing my best to get everything updated as soon as I can. :) This chapter was a little harder to write than everything so far - I hope you all like how it went! Thank you so much for your support, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Also, sorry for the abrupt ending, this chapter sort of comes in two parts (I'm working on the second one now).

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><p>I found myself on Wednesday morning feeling somewhat prepared. Luckily for me, Tenten and Hinata came over to help me write my speech the night before, so I didn't feel completely alone when I was getting ready. Even Ino stopped by for moral support (and to tell me that Shikamaru had opted to drop out of the election).<p>

"This looks good," Ino said, when I handed her my notes for the speech. "It's going to sound way smarter than Ami's speech." Ami was smart, but her writing was terrible, and I didn't expect her speeches to be any better. It was just the fact that she was popular that gave her an advantage over me.

"Thanks," I said, sipping the coffee I had made in preparation for the long night ahead of me. "It's pretty simple - there's not a lot that I have to say so far." I would have to think of something good, I thought.

"We'll think of some ideas," Tenten said. I was happy to see that she had kept her hair down like I told her to. "You're going to win this." I wondered if part of the reason why she wanted me to win the position was so that she would have more influence over the school.

Hinata nodded. "It's going to be great, Sakura."

"I have to go now," Ino said, "I'm still getting ready for my Christmas party on Friday. Oh, I forgot! You guys are invited too!" She added to Hinata and Tenten.

"Thanks Ino," Hinata said pleasantly. Tenten only nodded.

Once she was gone, I continued to write on my notecards, until I felt like everything I had to say was on them. "How does this look?" I handed the cards to Tenten, who looked them over.

"Good," she said, "just remember not to talk too fast."

It was already eleven o' clock by then, and I said goodbye to my friends, resolving not to go to bed until I was completely sure of what I wanted to say. I had changed a lot, sure, but I was still a perfectionist.

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><p>The next day, I woke up earlier than usual to dress up for my speech. If I was going down, I thought, at least I would look good doing it. Surprisingly, I didn't feel tired. I think I was so focused on what I was going to do that the lack of sleep I had gotten wasn't affecting me yet. For school, I wore a black pencil skirt with a simple white blouse on top. To complete my outfit, I settled for a black blazer and matching peep toe shoes. I tied my hair back so I looked professional.<p>

"Don't you look nice," my mom said before I left.

"Thanks," I said. "Do you think this is too much?"

"I think it's fine," she replied, sipping her coffee. I had always appreciated her advice on what I was wearing.

When I got to school, I was happy to see that Hinata had just gotten to school too - she was giving Naruto a ride that morning.

"Sakura!" Naruto called.

I walked faster to catch up to them - they had been walking into the building when I got there. "Hey guys," I said.

"You look good, Sakura," complimented Hinata. "Very professional."

"I'm definitely voting for you!" Naruto said.

I grinned. "Wait until you hear my speech - Hinata totally helped me write it."

Hinata shook her head. "I didn't do that much."

Instead of first and second period, the whole school flooded into the auditorium to watch the debate between Ami and me. I made my way to the front of the stage, making sure that I still had my notecards in my bag.

"Sakura," Tsunade was standing beside Sasuke, who was dressed in a suit (all of the student council officers were dressed up, actually). It made him look great, actually. I wasn't surprised to see a few hopeful underclassmen staring at him from their seats. "Good, you're here."

"Are you ready?" Sasuke asked me when Tsunade walked away to make sure everything was ready. As President, he had stayed out of my speech-making process.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I responded. There were still students coming into the auditorium - I didn't feel nervous yet though, which was good.

"Sasuke!" A girl's voice said from behind us. I looked to see that Ami had arrived, wearing a black and white dress with pumps. Her long blonde hair was curled and down. She looked more like she was going out than making a speech. "What's up?" She completely ignored me, not that I was expecting anything different from a friend of Karin's.

Sasuke shrugged. "I have to be here," he said, and explained the thing about the officers having to show up dressed up.

I watched as Ami tried (unsuccessfully) to flirt with him. Did she have any shame? He had been dating her best friend only a few weeks ago. Finally, Sasuke made an excuse to go somewhere else ("I think Tsunade wants me to check on something..."). I wished he hadn't, I liked having him there with me.

"So, freak." Ami sneered at me. "Are you ready to lose?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," I smiled at her, which only seemed to make her fume.

"Good morning everyone," I looked up to see Tsunade at the podium at the center of the stage, "If everyone will please move to their seats now, we can get this started." She didn't seem thrilled to be having such a big last-minute event the week before winter break. I didn't blame her - it wasn't like I asked to talk in front of the whole school. But it wasn't like I had resigned all together either. "That means you too, Inuzuka!" Kiba, who had been talking loudly to his friends in the aisle, grumbled and went to sit down.

"Now," Tsunade continued, "we're going to start the debates for the position of Vice President of the student body. The Vice President, as all of you should know by now because I've been saying it over and over on the announcements for the past week, is in charge of helping the President, fills in the place of the President if they are unable to attend a meeting or steps down permanently, and is co-head of the Prom Committee." It suddenly dawned on me that that might be the reason that Ami wanted the position. "Once you have heard the speeches of the candidates, we will have a period where you can ask any questions that you want. Keep in mind that the questions must be school-appropriate, and must relate to the position that they are running for. If not, you could face serious consequences." Tsunade didn't mess around.

"If the first candidate will please come up to the podium please," Tsunade looked at the paper she was clearly reading from, "Ami Watanabe." We had flipped a coin with Sasuke to determine who had to go first before he left (a strange tradition that had been present ever since the school was brand new) - I was glad to go last, it would keep my speech fresh in everyone's minds.

As Ami sauntered up to the stage, I wondered how many people would vote for her because she was the only person they knew - as Karin's rumor-starting schemes had showed, I was pretty much unknown to most of the school.

"Hey everyone," Ami said, "most of you know me - I'm Ami Watanabe. If I get this position, I will do my best to help out our dear President, Sasuke Uchiha." She smiled at Sasuke, who was sitting on the side of the stage with Tsunade and the other officers. "I will also use all of the power I have to make sure we have the best prom in school history. Oh, and better food in the cafeteria." She ended her short speech with a smile. It was obvious that she thought she didn't have to do much to get the position. She got a lot of applause too.

"Okay," Tsunade said, "now it's time for questions. Anyone?"

The question process went like this - one unlucky nerd in the AV Club (this year it was Shino) walked around with a wireless microphone in the audience and found anyone who raised their hands to ask a question. This could take awhile, depending on who was answering the questions (during Sasuke's debate, Tsunade had to put a stop to it after half an hour because a lot of girls had been taking advantage of it just to say that Sasuke talked to them).

The first person to ask a question was Tenten, who had been sitting near the front. "So tell me, Ms. Watanabe," she said curtly, "what would you say are the most important parts of high school?"

"That's a hard one," Ami said, sarcastically enough to be condescending, but jokingly enough for not everyone to be able to tell that she actually hated Tenten. "Let's see... I would say the football team - any sports in general, actually, the cheerleaders, and prom." There was a cheer from the athletic-type people and the cheerleaders, of course.

I could see Tenten rolling her eyes from where I was standing next to the stage.

There were a few more questions, but most of them were from Ami's friends, and underclassmen that didn't know any better. Ami answered them like I expected - confident, and sometimes a little dismissively (to the underclassmen). I watched poor Shino hurry around to get the microphone to everyone who had a question.

There was a lot of applause when Ami left the stage - I watched as she curtsied and left (were you even supposed to do that?), and prepared to take my walk up to the stage.

"And now for our next, and final, candidate: Sakura Haruno." Tsunade smiled, but looked like she was trying too hard to sound pleasant.

There was less applause for me this time (like I said, not a lot of people knew me, even though I was slowly gaining popularity again), but my Naruto and Ino made up for it by shouting as loud as they could. I tried to hide my smile as I walked up to the podium.

From stage, I could barely see anyone because the stage lights were directly on me. It was hotter up there than I thought too. I placed my notecards on the podium, and then began my speech.

"Hi," I said, "I'm Sakura Haruno. A lot of you probably don't know who I am, and that's okay." I heard muttering from where I imagined Karin would be sitting. Ignoring this, I continued. "I'm interested in taking the position of Class Vice President because I think that there are a lot of things about Konoha High that need to change. While there are a lot of good things about our school - for instance, our stellar academics and athletic programs - there is still quite a bit room for improvement, and I plan on doing as much as I can about that. For too long, our other extracurricular activities have been under-funded and put on the back-burner - like the Art Club, the Yearbook Club, the band program, the Culinary Arts Club, and so much more."

"You're a bunch of losers!" Someone in the crowd shouted. I couldn't tell who it was, but I had my suspicions - the voice sounded a lot like Kiba's.

"Yeah, get out of here!" A shrill voice said loudly. I could hear snickering from some of the students.

"Settle down!" Tsunade warned from where she was sitting.

"As you can see," I set my notecards aside and just started talking, "there's not a lot of support for the other clubs and programs from a very small part of our student body. But even then, they're always the ones who are heard the most." I looked out in the audience, and imagined that I was only talking to Tenten and Hinata in my room. "That's why, I'm not talking to them right now. To those of you who are in the Art Club," - there was a small shout from someone in the audience - "the AV Club, the Yearbook Club, the Chemistry club - and everyone else who really cares about something that's not athletic - why are you letting them make decisions for you? Why is only a small portion of the school so influential?" There was silence in the audience now. "What I'm saying is... if you really want to make a difference, think about what I'm saying before you vote. Thank you."

There was silence after I started talking, and then it was like the audience exploded in applause. "Yeah, Art Club!" Someone shouted. "Go Sakura!"

When there was silence again, it was time for the question part - I was more nervous about that, wondering what questions I would get after the speech I had just made. It hadn't exactly gone according to plan once I had just started speaking my mind.

There weren't a lot of questions, mostly from the students I was addressing, asking me about how I planned to implement certain things, since I was only running for the position of Vice President, after all. I managed to remember what I had practiced repeating over and over to Tenten. When that was done, there was another round of applause, and I walked off, back to where Ami was standing near the stage.

"That little speech you gave was pathetic," she hissed at me.

"Compared to what?" I whispered back.

She glared at me. I smiled.

"Now that we're through with that..." Tsunade checked her watch, "it's currently second period. I expect you all to go back to your scheduled classes promptly." Everyone was dismissed then, and I suddenly felt myself being surrounded with students.

"Sakura," Choji approached me, "thanks for mentioning the Culinary Arts Club in your speech. Umm, we've been really misrepresented lately, so... thanks for supporting us!" He was always so shy when he talked to me, but I thought it was sweet.

"Of course," I said, "I wanted to make it a point to mention the lesser-known clubs. They matter too, you know?"

There seemed to be a line of people to see me, and I talked to them one-on-one as best as I could - after all, each vote counted. I was surprised to see so many students there to support me - and to my delight, they weren't the popular kids. They were the rest of the student body. I hoped that I could make them proud.

Finally, I was rescued by my friends, who were grinning.

"Great speech, Sakura." Tenten, who usually didn't have time for emotional nonsense, was beaming. "I couldn't have done it better."

"Thanks, Tenten," I said, "that means a lot."

"That was amazing!" Ino said - I could see Shikamaru trailing behind her. "Who knew you were such a good public speaker?" She gave me a hug.

Shikamaru just smirked at me. "I can tell you stayed up all night on that speech," he said. "Good job."

"You still like the football team though, don't you?" Naruto teased - at least I hoped that's what it was.

"Of course!" I said. "I just think the other extracurriculars need some time in the spotlight, and better funding. You joined Culinary Arts, didn't you?"

Naruto laughed. "You got me there," he said, "but it was mostly just to impress Hinata."

"Oh stop it," Hinata said, and then turned to look at me. "I think you said what a lot of us have been thinking for a while - you really have a chance at winning this!" It was nice to have so much support from my friends. I wondered if this would have happened if I had run for Vice President with my old group of friends. Of course, my real friends would have still congratulated me, but everyone else (Kiba, Ami, that crowd...) would probably compliment me to my face and then talk about me behind my back. It was comforting to have friends who actually cared about me, that was for sure.

I walked to my second period class - it was AP Biology, but thankfully Kurenai didn't have anything planned. Instead, she let us talk for the remainder of the class period, which was great. I didn't feel like doing anything after my little speech. In all honesty, I felt exhausted.

It wasn't until I got to Biology that I finally got the chance to talk to Sasuke.

"Well done, Haruno." He said.

"Thanks Uchiha," I grinned, "I'm actually really glad it's over."

He nodded. "The speeches are always one of the hardest parts."

We chatted like that for the rest of the class, with Tenten or Naruto occasionally cutting in. I didn't mind, of course. No offense to Sasuke, but it was hard to carry on a conversation with him sometimes, especially if he was just warming up to you.

I went through the rest of the day in a sort-of daze. I hadn't thought that my speech that morning would really affect anyone (I mean, no one really listens to those anyway), but there were so many students coming to talk to me, congratulate me even, that I was beginning to wonder if I had suddenly become well-known in the school. And this time, it wasn't because I was Sasuke's best friend, or Kiba's girlfriend, or so many other reasons that it could have been before - it was because of me. And that felt good.

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><p>When the results were announced on the following Thursday, I was nervous. Even though it was so short-notice, I really did want that position. I wanted to help change everything for the better before I left. I wanted to help everyone that I probably would have ignored before.<p>

"Hello everyone," Tsunade's voice crackled over the intercom - it was during Calculus again, and Asuma had been in the middle of a sentence when he was teaching. "It's time for the election results for Vice President of the student body. I would first like to congratulate our two candidates - they both did a great job preparing speeches and questions for the debate. However," she continued, "only one of them can win.

"The next Vice President is," Tsunade hesitated for a second, "Sakura Haruno."

I suddenly felt everyone staring at me again - it was like deja vu from the last time my name was called out on the intercom a few days ago - but this time there was applause.

"It's an honor," said Asuma sarcastically, "to have the Student Body President and Vice President in my class."

We got back to the lesson pretty quickly after that, but I was elated. Now that I had this position, it felt like my voice mattered more. I would get to spend more time with Sasuke, and be able to influence more changes to the school that we needed. I was pretty pumped.

After school, I went to Tsunade's office with Sauske to get a good feel of what the Student Council was trying to accomplish now. Since I had come in so late in the semester, I had to catch up on a lot of things - procedures, policies they were already trying to pass, and other things that seemed more difficult than they needed to be.

"It's a lot," Tsunade said, "do you think you can do this?"

"I can," I said confidently. It was a lot of work, but I could handle way more than this. It would be fun.

"I can fill her in on more stuff during break too," Sasuke said it so nonchalantly that it surprised me. I guess it was a given that he wanted to see me over break. I mean, we were friends now, but it was Sasuke.

Tsunade nodded. "Good. You can see yourselves out now, I have a meeting that I have to attend in the library." She looked disgusted.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: **I'm so sorry for this being so late (about five months since I last updated... so sorry!). Everything's been really busy for me since I've been in school, but now that I'm out until the fall I plan on updating more frequently! Thank you so much to everyone who has left reviews, and for sticking with my story for so long. You guys are the best!

Please let me know what you think about this chapter, and please forgive me for any grammatical errors if I made any. Also, feel free to point anything out that you feel might be inconsistent. Thank you!

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><p>When school finally ended on Friday, I met Hinata and Tenten in the classroom we usually had Yearbook Club meetings in to exchange Christmas presents. Although we were all going to Ino's party later that evening, we wanted to do this with just each other.<p>

"Sakura!" Hinata beamed at me. "I was wondering when you would get here, you're not getting too popular for us, are you?" I could tell that she was teasing me, but it had some truth to it. After it had been announced that I had won the position of Student Body Vice President, a lot of other students had been approaching me - mostly members of the lesser-known clubs that I had talked about during my speech, but still. I was being noticed more.

Even the popular crowd couldn't ignore me. Sasuke had requested that I spend most of my free time with him so that he could explain my position to me and delegate tasks that the previous Vice President, Suigetsu, had been working on before he completely broke down from the pressure. It was pretty simple, really, I would be able to handle it. Especially since part of my job involved supporting Sasuke - I could definitely do that, especially since I had done it all the time when we were friends.

My newfound attention was not unnoticed by Karin, who looked like she was seething with anger every time I saw her. I knew what she was thinking, because I had been that type of person once - how could some pink-haired art freak suddenly be noticed by almost everyone in the school? Not to mention, the freak was working with her ex-boyfriend who she probably wasn't even over yet. If my life hadn't changed so drastically, I would have reacted the same way.

"It's more annoying than anything," I told her, placing one Christmas-themed gift bag each in front of my friends. I was totally lying - I loved being the center of attention.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Let's get on with it!"

"Patience, grasshopper," I said, and Hinata laughed.

I went first, because I'm the most impatient and I already had their gift bags out. For Hinata, I got her a matching lavender knit scarf and hat, and a special edition copy of our favorite Jane Austen book, _Pride and Prejudice. _

"Sakura," Hinata beamed, studying the book, "it's so great! And thank you for the hat and scarf too!"

"I thought you might need it," I said, "for when you go on your family vacation." The Hyuga family always went skiing over Christmas break. It was a big ordeal, with all of the extended family too. "Besides, lavender is your color." I grinned.

For Tenten, I got her an assortment of hair accessories (clips, hair ties, etc.), and a digital picture frame. "So you can display all of your pictures!" I said brightly. "And you can always use more hair accessories."

Tenten smiled. "Thank you, Sakura."

From Tenten, Hinata and I were handed bags with a sketchbook and a packet of bamboo brushes. "I wasn't sure what to get," Tenten said, "you're both artists, so I figured this would be okay."

"It's perfect!" Hinata said, and I nodded. It was about time that I had some decent brushes for myself. I wouldn't have to mooch off of Hinata anymore during art class (although I know she never minded).

Hinata went last, pulling two canvases from a cabinet in the classroom. Kakashi must have let her keep them in his classroom for the day. The one she handed to me was a painting of the three of us, and a great one. Hinata had an art style that I could only describe as dreamy. While my paintings were made with harsh lines and colors, Hinata's were softer, and more delicate. In the painting, we were smiling - Hinata and I were beaming, and Tenten was smirking, like she did.

"Is this what you've been working on in art class!?" I said.

She nodded. "Do you like it?"

"This is great!" I grinned. "It's definitely going up in my room."

"What about you, Tenten?" Hinata said, I could tell she was a little nervous, probably from sharing her art with us.

"It's really good," Tenten said. She had been given a similar one of all three of us. "Thank you."

We went to my house after that to get ready for Ino's party. We were all riding together anyway, and I wanted to do everyone's makeup - it wasn't a formal party, but that didn't mean I couldn't touch them up a bit. Especially Tenten - ever since I had discovered Tenten's feelings for Neji, I was determined to bring them together before graduation.

* * *

><p>We arrived at the party at the right time - when everyone was mostly there, but we weren't considered late yet. That was my favorite time to get to parties; not too early, not too late. I was wearing a red sweater dress with black leggings and black ankle boots. I thought it was festive enough, and it would keep me warm too. Looking at my friends, I was proud of myself. I had insisted on helping them get dressed, and I did a good job. Although she had initially fought me, Tenten ended up wearing a simple grey sweater dress (lent to her from me). I had also done her makeup in a way that made her look natural, but also accented her eyes. Her hair was down and curled at the ends.<p>

Hinata, on the other hand, was wearing dark jeans and a blue sweater. It wasn't exactly what I had planned for her, but the party wasn't supposed to be too formal. Besides, she wasn't the one I was focused on for the night.

"Hey guys!" Ino greeted us at the door. She was wearing a short green dress, with a red Santa hat perched on her head. I laughed, "You look festive!"

She grinned. "Well I am the host, right? Tenten, you look hot!"

Tenten blushed and mumbled under her breath. I just grinned at her - she would thank me later.

Ino led us further into her house to the living room where most of her guests had already arrived. I looked around briefly - I could see Neji in the corner, talking to Rock Lee (they were strangely friends, even though you didn't see them hanging out very much in school), Shikamaru talking to Choji (his best friend) and Suigetsu, and Sasuke, who was sitting by Naruto. To my dismay, Karin and Ami were also there - glaring at me.

"Make yourselves at home!" Ino beamed, and hurried away - probably to get more snacks or something.

The Christmas party was pretty small, but that was the way I liked it. Big parties were for New Years Eve. Christmas parties were for groups of friends to hang out - it would have been even better if Karin and Ami hadn't been invited.

"Hey guys!" Naruto shouted from where he was standing with Sasuke. "Hinata, you look great!"

Hinata blushed and made her way towards her boyfriend. "Not so loud..." she said, "but thank you."

Tenten fidgeted and stayed close to me. Together, we followed Hinata over to where Naruto and Sasuke were. I could almost feel Karin's gaze burning into the back of my head. I ignored it - now that Sasuke was single he was free game. Besides, even though he didn't remember, he was my best friend.

"Hey," I said, "what's the plan for tonight?"

"I think we're all going to sit down and watch a Christmas movie," Shikamaru, who had appeared out of nowhere, said, "to start, at least. I don't know what else my crazy girlfriend has planned for the night."

"That sounds like Ino." I said. After all, it was what we had done last time.

"Did anyone say my name?" Ino walked back into the room, carrying two trays of snack food - it was a wonder that she hadn't dropped them yet. I watched as Shikamaru quickly walked over and took one from her before they spilled all over the floor.

"Sakura," I looked over to see Neji Hyuuga approaching me. "You did a great job on your speech this week. I've been meaning to tell you."

I was flattered. "Thank you!" I beamed. "But you know, a lot of credit should go to my friend Tenten here - she helped me write most of my speech, and proofread it to make sure I wasn't looking stupid in front of everyone." I gestured to Tenten, who looked like she wanted to run away.

Neji looked at Tenten, and looked like he was seeing her for the first time. "Well, you both did a great job." He said.

"Thanks," she said, sounding tiny.

"Did someone call me?" I said, even though I knew no one hadn't. I ignored Tenten's look of panic, and left to go back and talk to Hinata and everyone.

"Tenten's going to kill you." Hinata said. She had watched our whole exchange.

"She'll thank me for it later," I whispered. Already Tenten and Neji were in a deep conversation - both of them looked like they were arguing, but that was a start, right?

"Meddling in people's lives again?" Sasuke said. It was the first time he had talked to me all evening.

"Hey," I said, "I'm just helping my friends out. It's kind of what I do, Uchiha."

He just rolled his eyes, but he couldn't deny it.

"Besides," I teased, "you're just jealous that I haven't set you up with anyone yet."

"I don't think you would know my type, Haruno."

_Wanna bet? _I thought. But I only said. "We'll see."

"Okay everyone!" Ino said. "Find a spot, we're watching a movie!"

To my delight, Tenten and Neji sat together, still talking about something. It still looked like they were arguing, but a good kind of arguing. It looked like they couldn't get enough of each other. I smirked at Tenten, who was still refusing to look at me, and took a spot on the floor by the couch. To my surprise, Sasuke sat down beside me, in between Hinata and me.

"Ready to be bored for an hour and a half?" He said.

"Hey!" I said. "Watch it, I love Christmas movies!"

"That's surprising." He said sarcastically, but I could tell that he was teasing me. It was almost like I was talking to my best friend again. I wondered why there was a sudden switch in his personality towards me.

I could see Karin and Ami whispering on the other side of the room, most likely about me. Still, I ignored them. It's not like I cared about them anyway.

The movie we watched was a classic - I was glad to be around all of my friends (besides a few people), just spending time together. It was also nice to sit beside Sasuke in the dark. The urge to reach for his hand was almost overwhelming though.

When the movie was over, Ino turned back on the lights. When I looked over at Sasuke, he looked strangely tense.

"Sakura, do you mind helping me with these?" Ino indicated the leftover trays of food.

"Yeah, no problem." I picked up a tray and followed her into the kitchen.

Once we were in the room, Ino reached for a gift bag on the counter and handed it to me. "I didn't want to give you this in front of everyone," she said, "because I didn't get everyone a present."

"Ino, you didn't have to." I had gotten her a Christmas present too - a hat and scarf combination that I had given her the first time around - but that was more of a gift for hosting the party.

"It's nothing huge," she said, "but it made me think of you."

Inside the bag I found a pack of eyeshadow with glitter in it, and a small sketchbook. I laughed. "It's perfect."

"I knew you'd like it." Ino said. "The eyeshadow is a bit much, but I thought you could find a way to use it because it looked so fun. And the sketchbook is obvious, of course."

"Thank you," I said.

"Thank you," she said. "I know we haven't been friends for very long, but I'm really grateful for our friendship. You're one of the most... real people that I know. I can't believe we weren't friends sooner."

_We were, _I thought. Her words were touching, but I suddenly felt sad. "That's really nice of you to say that," I said. "So are you. I'm glad we're friends, Ino."

"Come here." She laughed, and gave me a hug. "We'd better get out to the party," she said. I followed her back to the living room, but stopped in the bathroom on my way.

For some reason, I felt the tears coming on again. Ino's words had made me feel strange. I suddenly missed my old life stronger than I had in weeks. It felt like I was grieving for something that I would never have again.

"Sakura." A familiar voice startled me. I screamed.

"I haven't seen you in awhile." I said, wiping away a few of the tears that had spilled down my cheeks. "Where have you been?"

"I've been busy," Konan said. I can't say I had missed her glassy blue eyes staring at me, but they were a familiar sight. It was sort of comforting, having someone around who actually knew what I was going through around. "You're making more progress, Sakura Haruno."

"Thanks." I said, still wiping away tears. "It's hard..." I sniffed.

"I never said it would be easy," she replied, "in fact, this will probably be one of the hardest things you will have to do."

"I can believe that," to my surprise, I laughed a little. This was all really funny - I was in the bathroom talking to a strange witch-lady that only I could see. One that could stop time if she wanted to. Was I just going crazy?

"For the last time," Konan said, in her strange, ethereal voice, "you're not going crazy."

"Can I ask you a question?" I looked up at her. She was a few inches taller than me, and there was something about her that made me feel like she was even taller.

"You already are, I believe."

"Why didn't you just let me die that night?" I said. "I mean... why did you give me a chance?"

"Like I said," Konan responded, "your willingness to sacrifice your life for your friend was selfless. It was noble of you."

"Noble," I snorted, "like I've ever been _noble._"

"You are upset."

"A little," I said. "I wish I had been different before... then maybe all of this wouldn't have happened. I didn't have to be such a horrible person. Even if I didn't love Sasuke like he loved me before, I didn't have to treat him like that."

"Do you love him now?" Konan's question struck me.

"Of course I love him." I said. "I think I always have, I just never realized it. And obviously, I've always loved him as my friend. He used to be my best friend." The tears started up again, I was a mess. "You told me before that he was going to be an important person... what did you mean by that?"

"That's information that I cannot give you." She said.

I sighed. Typical.

"I can't give away what is to come." said Konan. "It doesn't work that way."

"Of course it doesn't." I said.

"You're improving." She said. "I hope you can find comfort in that." And just like that, she was gone.

It took me a few minutes to collect myself after talking to Konan. If only I had made other decisions, I wouldn't be in this position in the first place. In some ways, I was glad to have the chance to go back and correct mistakes I had made in the past. I was thankful for Tenten and Hinata, and I was glad that I had discovered so much more about myself than I would have if I hadn't taken this chance. However, the feelings I had before - the grieving - didn't go away. Sure, I was making up lost time in my friendships, especially with Ino and Shikamaru, but how much of our relationships was I really going to gain back? I had lost years.

And Sasuke. I could tell that we were closer, but how could he love me after such a short time? I knew him - he could barely figure out if he liked someone after a couple of months (besides the strange incident with Karin). How would I ever succeed?

Still, I wiped my tears away and took a few deep breaths. I wouldn't let this spoil my night. Especially since it had been going so well before. Calmly, I walked out of the bathroom and back into the living room where it looked like everyone was saying their goodbyes.

"Sakura," Tenten caught me. "I think Neji's going to take me home."

"Oh really?" I raised my eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh shut up." She said.

"I expect details tomorrow!" I replied.

Hinata had driven us here, and I would be riding back with her and Naruto. Sasuke had taken Naruto, but would be leaving alone.

"Hey, Sasuke!" I called out to him, after saying goodbye to Ino and Shikamaru.

"What is it, Haruno?" He said once I had caught up to him.

"I just wanted to say goodbye," I said, breathlessly. "And Merry Christmas, if I don't see you before then."

"Have you been crying?" He asked, to my surprise.

"What? No, of course not." I said. He didn't seem convinced.

"Do you want a ride home?" He asked. "It's in the direction of my house anyway." How could I say no to that?

On the way back, we rode in silence for about a minute, until Sasuke broke it by asking me if I was okay.

"Why are you asking me that?" I said.

"You're eyes are red." He answered. "You seem... different."

"Why the sudden concern, Uchiha?" I was genuinely curious. He hadn't been this attentive towards me ever since we had been friends before the accident. It was confusing me actually. Like I said before, it was almost like we were best friends again.

He only shrugged. "I feel like I know you. You remind me of a friend I had once." He had told me that before, around Thanksgiving.

"Thanks." I said. "For caring, anyway."

"Do you want to explain to me what it is?"

"I wish I could," I said. "But you would just think I was crazy."

"I doubt it," he said.

"No, really." I said. He didn't ask me about it again.

When he dropped me off, before I left his car, he said something else. "We should probably meet this week, to talk about student council stuff."

Hanging out alone with Sasuke? Sure. "I can do that," I said, "just let me know what day."

He agreed, and I stepped out of the car. My mom had left a light on for me so I could find my way around once I was inside. At that moment, all I wanted to do was climb in to bed and try to forget everything, but once I was in bed, I couldn't stop thinking about what Sasuke had said. He had a friend once that I reminded him of. Could he be talking about me?


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: **Hey everyone! I'm doing my best to update more frequently over the summer, so I hope that I can get close to finishing this story (or have it finished!) by the end of the story. If not, I'm definitely going to finish this eventually. Thank you so much to everyone who has stuck it through with me until now, I really appreciate it, and your awesome reviews. :)

Please let me know what you think about this chapter, and I'll try to have another one out soon!

* * *

><p>"Spill. Everything." I was on the phone with Tenten, the day after Ino's Christmas party.<p>

She groaned. "What do you want to know?"

"EVERYTHING!" I was practically shouting through the phone. "What happened with you and Neji?"

"Oh that," Tenten was doing her best to sound uncaring, but I knew better. "We just talked a lot, and then he took me home." Oh my god. Was I going to have to pry it out of her?

"So?" I prompted. "Is it... going anywhere?"

"He said he wanted to see me again today before his family leaves to go on vacation." Tenten said stiffly.

"Eeee!" I squealed. "Where are you meeting? Do you need to dress up? I need _details _Tenten." With the nonexistent romantic interests in my life, I was basically living vicariously through my friends.

"He just wants to get coffee-"

"He asked you out on a date!" I shouted.

"I don't know if it's like that, Sakura."

"Of course it is!" I was so excited. First Hinata and Naruto, Ino and Shikamaru, and now Tenten and Neji? I was a matchmaker by now. Really, I should have realized how talented I was before.

"Well," Tenten said, "what do I do now?"

I thought for a moment. "I would wear something simple, but still nice. Maybe like a sweater dress, since it's cold outside. Or a nice sweater. Oh, and do your hair like I taught you!"

Tenten sighed, and I heard her mutter something that sounded like "high-maintenance".

"Hey!" I said indignantly. "I heard that!"

I ended up talking Tenten through how one should conduct themselves during a date (at least, guidelines I had decided for myself throughout high school). "The most important thing is to just be yourself," I said, "that's why he likes you. You don't need to try to be someone you're not."

"Thanks, Sakura." Tenten said finally. "I'll... let you know how it goes."

"Please do!" I said. We got off the phone after that.

I found myself alone at my house after saying goodbye to my parents before they left that morning. I felt a little sad, being at my house by myself, even though it was really my decision. The sky outside was grey, and it was snowing slightly. Thankfully, my mom had left her car keys with me so I wouldn't be stranded at home the whole week they were gone. Leaving me at home hadn't been a hard decision for my parents - they trusted me, and since I was one year away from living on my own anyway they weren't worried about me fending for myself.

I had a nice morning, which consisted of me staying in my pajamas in the living room reading a book I had just started. I was just thinking about finding something for breakfast, when my phone rang.

"Hello?" I said.

I was surprised to find that it was Sasuke calling me. "Sakura?"

"How did you get my number?" I said suspiciously.

"Ino." He said. Of course. Not that I was complaining actually. Now I had an excuse to text him on occasion. You see, I already knew Sasuke's phone number, but I knew that if I had suddenly started trying to contact him before we became friends it would have creeped him out.

"We need to meet up so I can talk to you about your new position on student council." Sasuke said. "Also, Suigetsu got pretty behind on a lot of his work, so we'll need to catch up during winter break. Sorry."

"That's fine," I sighed, "I signed up for this, remember?"

"Meet me in half an hour." Sasuke said, and gave me the name of a coffee shop I used to frequent. "I'll bring the Vice President stuff there and we can start going through it."

I threw on some clothes really quick (the already freezing temperature had dropped so much that night that that I knew I would have to bundle up to stay warm. My hair was still a mess from waking up, so I put it up and stuffed it under a knit cap that I had bought about a month before. I left out a few pieces of hair so that it would frame my face. I used to be self-conscious about my face, especially my forehead. When I was in elementary school, a bunch of girls had teased me about it. I tried everything to hide it, including some hideous bangs that I cut myself in fourth grade which turned out to be a disaster. Eventually, I just had to accept it. It really wasn't a big deal anyway.

Sasuke was already there when I arrived, sitting at a table with a stack of folders that looked like they were filled with loose paper.

"Good lord." I said, when I saw the pile. "What is all this?"

"We're about to find out," said Sasuke grimly.

After ordering coffee and food (I still hadn't eaten anything), we got to work. It was kind of dull, but being with Sasuke was worth it. There were so many forms that Suigetsu was supposed to fill out but had forgotten about, not to mention old handouts, and plans for prom. It took me a while to figure out what all of it meant, and where it needed to go, but Sasuke helped me and it didn't take long until I figured out what I was supposed to do with my position.

It took us two hours to sort through all of the piles, and even then we still didn't know what to do with most of it. "I think we're good for today," Sasuke said. He sounded tired. "We can go through this some more another day. Thanks for coming to help."

"It's fine," I said, "it's not like I have anything to do today anyway."

Naruto, who had shown up for the last fifteen minutes (I guess he had plans with Sasuke after we were done) looked up from where he had been texting Hinata. "You should come hang out with us Sakura!"

"You're parents are out of town anyway, right?" Sasuke said. I was surprised that he remembered.

"Yep," I replied. "They left this morning." I had forgotten that I told him that. I was even more surprised that he remembered something like that.

"Come on!" Naruto said eagerly. "We're going to get ramen!"

"Sure," I said, "that sounds fun."

We ended up going to the same place we had gone when school was still in session - the ramen place that Naruto frequented. Weirdly, the ramen was perfect for the cold weather. Naruto was onto something.

"Is this what you guys do during the holidays?" I joked, even though I knew it was true. The last time, we had spent all our time together during Christmas break. My parents had been gone visiting friends, like now, and Naruto and Sasuke didn't have anyone at home with them, so we even slept over at Sasuke's house sometimes. Or mine. Of course, I didn't expect us to be that close this time around, but at least they had invited me to hang out with them, so that was something.

"For the most part." Sasuke replied. He had been more quiet than usual today, but he was warming up to me again slowly.

"We usually just watch movies at Sasuke's house." Naruto said. "Do you wanna join us then too?"

I looked at Sasuke, who shrugged. "Okay," I said. "It'll be nice to have some company."

"Yay!" Naruto said, through a mouthful of ramen. "Dis'll be greab!" He swallowed. "You can help us pick out the movies!"

We hit the movie rental place (something that I called a novelty after Netflix happened), a small establishment that was close to the ramen restaurant, after lunch. It was there that we collected a stack of movies with genres that ranged from horror to classic to movies that Naruto said were "traditional". Of course, I knew what those movies were and usually watched them with Naruto and Sasuke, but I played along like I was just taking part in this for the first time.

After we had successfully compiled the movies, Sasuke drove us to the grocery store where we stocked up on snacks too. For the first time in a while everything seemed normal. It was like I could have pretended that nothing happened in the first place. Obviously that wasn't the case though.

Once we were at Sasuke's house, we settled into the living room with the food and movies, and Naruto (after hurrying off to the kitchen to fix himself another bowl of ramen) put in the first movie - something scary that had been in theaters our junior year. I sat in the corner of the couch, and - luckily for me - Sasuke sat beside me. Naruto seemed content to sit on the floor with a pile of pillows that he had seemed to have collected from all of the rooms in the house and his ramen.

As it turns out, just hanging out with them turned out to be just as fun as it had been before. Naruto's reactions to the movie had me laughing until I was crying at some points, and Sasuke even joked along with us a bit. It was so strange having my friends back after what seemed so long, that I was kind of afraid of it ending.

After the first movie, Naruto disappeared to call Hinata (who had left that morning with her family to go on vacation), leaving Sasuke and me alone.

I gasped. "I completely forgot!"

"What?" Sasuke said.

"To call Tenten!" I said. "She and Neji went on a date this morning and I wanted to see if it went well."

Sasuke just rolled his eyes.

"What!?" I said defensively. "It's not like they would have gotten together without me!"

"Meddling in people's lives..." Was Sasuke teasing me? "It's like you have a gift for it."

"Of course I do. I'm very talented." I gave him a fake hair flip.

To my surprise, he laughed. "I'm sure."

We talked for a little while more, until Naruto walked back into the room.

"How's Hinata doing?" I asked him.

"She's fine," he grinned, "they just got to the lodge where they're staying. It sounds fancy."

"It probably is, knowing the Hyuga family." I replied. "Maybe they'll take you with them next year." Naruto just laughed it off, but I was pretty sure that would be a possibility if Hinata and Naruto continued dating into college (which I was sure would happen, of course, they were perfect for each other).

We watched two more movies that night, until I decided that it was probably time for me to go back home around one o' clock in the morning. Even though Sasuke's house wasn't too far away, he insisted on driving me back. "It's too dark outside, and cold."

"You'll come back tomorrow, right?" Naruto said, his voice muffled by pillows. At that point, he had managed to bury himself under the small nest he had made on the floor, and had briefly fallen asleep during the last movie.

"If that's okay with you guys." I said.

"It's fine with me." Sasuke said quietly. I knew that meant he was tired too.

Once I had properly bundled up, I said goodbye. On the way home, I couldn't stop smiling. It might have been because I was so tired, but I hadn't expected to be invited to hang out with them again over Christmas break. I knew that Sasuke and I were sort-of friends now, but that didn't change much, I thought. Now, I wasn't sure.

* * *

><p><em>"Do you ever wonder what life is going to be like after high school?" I asked Sasuke. It was Christmas break, and we were at his house. Naruto had gone to see his girlfriend Ami - they had gotten back together after fighting for the past two weeks. I thought that he should have just dumped her for good, since she made him miserable all of the time they were together. <em>

_"What do you mean?" He asked. Despite Sasuke's practically nonexistent Christmas spirit, I had insisted that we make hot chocolate and watch the marathon of cheesy Christmas movies playing on TV. We only had a few days until Christmas Eve, and my parents would be back soon. _

_"Do you think we'll still see each other?" I said. "And our friends? We'll be hundreds of miles away from everyone. Maybe even thousands. Do you ever think about that?" I stirred a snowman-shaped marshmallow that I had put in my hot chocolate, watching it dissolve. _

_"I don't know," he said, "I know I'm going to see you and Naruto. Definitely." _

_"And what makes you say that?" I met his eyes. They were serious and dark. _

_"You're the closest people to me," he said, "closer than my brother, even." I could believe that. Sasuke and Itachi hardly spent any time together, especially after their parents died. It's not that Itachi didn't care about his little brother - because he did - he was just always so busy with running their father's company. I was sure that he wasn't sure how to take care of Sasuke either, with both of them being so emotionless most of the time. It must have been hard. _

_"I just..." I trailed off. "I always hear about people moving away for college and becoming distant. I'm scared." _

_"It won't happen," Sasuke promised. "We probably won't see each other as much for a few years, but we'll still see each other on holidays. And keep in touch." _

_"Okay," I teased, "as long as you don't forget me after all of the admirers you're going to have when you go to college." _

_He rolled his eyes at that. "You're over-exaggerating things." _

_"I'm really not," I laughed. Sasuke was always in denial about how popular he was. "It's because you're great." _

_He just smirked at me._

_We stayed like that on the couch into the evening, just talking. Thankfully at the time Kiba and I had been taking a break too (I really should have listened to my own advice about Naruto's relationship when it came to my own) so I didn't have him to tie me down over the winter holidays. _

_Later on, Itachi would tell Sasuke that he couldn't make it for Christmas, and my family would have him over to celebrate with us (Naruto was at Ami's house, poor guy)._

* * *

><p>The dreams had been coming more often - they were more memories than anything, bubbling up to the surface - and to my surprise, I wasn't as affected by them. Whenever I woke up, I would have a twinge of sadness of what I had lost, but it was fading.<p>

Of course, the morning after I had hung out with Naruto and Sasuke I basically ambushed Tenten on the phone.

"So?" I pressed. "What happened?"

"Sakura," she complained, "you woke me up."

"No time for sleep," I insisted, "tell me what happened!"

"Fine." Tenten grumbled, and I heard her shifting in bed, probably to sit up. "We went out for coffee, we talked, and then we left."

"I need details!" I said. "What did you talk about?"

"All sorts of stuff," Tenten replied, and then paused. "He said he liked my hair in the buns, but it was nice down too."

"Aww," I said, "how sweet." Really, that was sweet of him. I had no idea Neji would be into the whole Princess Leia hairdo, but as long as they were happy I guess it didn't matter. "What else?"

"Well..." she trailed off, "we talked about what we wanted to do after graduation, and about Yearbook Club and football... and he said he wants to see me again after they get back from vacation." She said the last bit in a small voice, like she couldn't believe it.

Well, of course she should believe it. Tenten was great. And I told her that, after screaming into the phone excitedly for about half a minute. "Tenten, I knew it! I'm so happy for you!"

She just laughed. "Can I go back to sleep now, crazy?"

"Carry on." I said, and then said goodbye. Once we were off the phone, I got out of bed. I was sufficiently awake, and I didn't want to go back to sleep. The memory-dreams were nice sometimes, but Konan often appeared in them (as she did) and I didn't want to relive anything else at the moment.

I went over to Sasuke's house again that afternoon - it seemed like that was when Naruto finally woke up.

"Hey Sakura." He said sleepily. How much did he sleep? "I was just about to make some ramen for lunch. Do you want some?" Seriously, with all the junk food he ate I wondered how he was able to stay in such good shape.

"I just ate," I said, "but thanks."

Sasuke and I did some more work with the stack of papers Suigetsu left. This time we were just looking at what was relevant for the spring semester or not. Unfortunately, it was most of it. I spent most of my afternoon figuring out which parts I wanted to start on first, and how to start on them. Thankfully, Sasuke was there to help me out.

"Bring these to the next student council meeting," he handed me a stack of forms. "It's for prom, and they're going to want to start on that first." He sighed, as if he was tired of hearing about it. Which he probably was. Sasuke had gone to prom our senior year, but not because he wanted to. He went to prom because he felt obligated as Class President.

"Sounds like a plan!" I said brightly. I had already done homecoming, so how hard would prom be? Besides, I knew I could make it way better than it had been the first time around.

After spending time on the papers, I relocated the stack to my car (it was my responsibility now, but Sasuke said I could still ask him if I had any questions), and we spent the rest of the day watching movies and talking. I was happy to be around Sasuke, especially around this time of year. Painfully, I thought that I was about halfway through the semester. I only had until the beginning of June with him. Roughly five more months.

I put that out of my mind though. I was tired of crying about what I couldn't have. Being able to spend time with him was enough.

I spent the rest of the week with them - just hanging out. Sometimes we went back to the ramen place that Naruto liked, and other times we went somewhere else, or just ordered a pizza. We went through at least two stacks of rented movies, but that wasn't all we did. One of my favorite memories from the week I spent with them was two days before my parents came home.

We had just come back from the coffee shop that Sasuke and I liked (we had dragged Naruto there with us because we needed to get out of the house), and it had just started to snow again. It had been snowing on and off all week by then, and I wondered if it would ever stop.

"We need to do something else!" Naruto said. "Like a snowball fight!"

"Are you stupid?" Sasuke said. "That's something we did when we were ten."

"Doesn't make it any less fun." Naruto said, and threw a snowball at me. I had been getting my purse from Sasuke's car, and it had hit me in the back of the head. I could feel the melted snow trickling down my neck.

"Oh it's on." I said.

"Sakura, that was supposed to go to-" But Naruto couldn't complete his sentence, because I had already pelted a snowball at his face. "Hey!" He said.

Sasuke was brought into the fight when Naruto threw one at him that should have hit him, but he dodged it. I had forgotten how fast Sasuke was - it was probably from football or something. It wasn't long until we were running around his yard like we used to when we were ten. Of course, I was the only one who could remember that I had been there too, but that was okay.

Something peculiar happened when I tried to surprise attack what I thought was an unsuspecting Sasuke. Right before I was about to drop a huge snowball on his head (my masterpiece), he turned around and grabbed my arm. "Ow!" I said, because it startled me. I tried to step away, but then I slipped on a patch of ice. Before I knew it, we were on the ground.

I found myself staring up at Sasuke, who was above me. "Be careful next time," he said.

I tried to reply, but he was looking at me in a way that I hadn't seen him look since before the accident. I couldn't explain what it was, but it made me speechless. I had never realized how dark his eyes were. It was like there was something burning in them. Slowly, he placed his hand on my cheek, and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. His touch made my face burn, but I wouldn't look away.

"What are you doing Sasuke?" Naruto said loudly, breaking us out of whatever trance we had been in.

Sasuke stood up then, and offered me his hand. "She tried to get me and then we fell."

Naruto just gave him a smug look. I wondered what that meant.

That was the most unusual thing that happened between Sasuke and me before Christmas that break, and we didn't talk about it afterwards. The day before my parents returned, I gave both of them presents. It wasn't much, just some homemade hot chocolate and a different DVD of a Christmas movie each.

"I figured I should get you guys something," I said. "It's nothing much. Oh, and the Christmas movies are to be watched over Christmas. Sasuke, I know you don't like them but humor me please."

Sasuke just grumbled. "Thank you, I'm sorry we didn't get you anything."

"It's not a big deal," I said, "It's more of a thank you for practically letting me live here for the past week."

"Thanks Sakura!" Naruto grinned.

"Have a great Christmas!" I said back. "I had a lot of fun."

My parents came back on the twenty-third of December - just enough time to get our last-minute Christmas preparations out of the way. Our family was coming again that year, including my aunt and my grandmother again. That was strange, they hadn't the last time around. It wasn't until later that I realized that Konan had set it up for me so I could see them one last time... just in case. In a way, it was sort of touching.


	16. Chapter 16

_"Here I am back again  
>And I'm wishing now, was then."<em>

_-Bahamas_

* * *

><p>My parents returned on December twenty-third, and my aunt and grandmother arrived the day after. It was strange, having the extended family over after seeing them at Thanksgiving, but it was nice all the same. No one said anything about this being out of the ordinary, so I was sure that it was Konan's doing.<p>

"Hello dear," my grandmother greeted me at the door. She would be taking my room again, and I would be sleeping on the couch, which was fine. Usually I would complain, but I was different now.

We had a nice Christmas as a family, besides some bickering between my aunt and my mom (this was actually normal behavior for them). Christmas was my favorite time of the year, and I was glad that I could spend it with my family. I didn't think about how it could be my last - why should I? I didn't want to taint the memories I would have with my family.

Before everything happened, I would have been more concerned with what I was receiving for Christmas than anything else. Last time, when it had just been my parents, Sasuke, and me, I had wanted a bunch of expensive clothes and a new iPhone. This year, I hadn't really asked for much.

Christmas Day was nice and uneventful - just how I like my Christmases. New Year's Eve was the time to party during the winter holidays. Christmas was time for family.

It wasn't until later in the afternoon on Christmas Day - after we had a huge lunch that consisted of turkey and a lot of casseroles - that I saw him.

"Sakura, can you get the door?" My mom called from the kitchen, where she and my aunt were putting away leftovers.

Strangely enough, I found Sasuke at the door. "Er, hi Sasuke." I said. "What's up?" It was snowing lightly outside, and there were several snowflakes in his black hair. He was a little flushed from the cold too.

"I thought I'd go for a walk," he began, "and I figured I'd bring you this..." He handed me a small package that was wrapped in newspaper. "It's from Naruto and me. It's not a lot, but we wanted to get you something."

"That's nice," I said, touched. "Thank you."

"He would be here right now," Sasuke said, "but he's on the phone with Hinata."

"As he should be," I grinned, and carefully opened the present. Inside the small box I found two disposable cameras and a small photo album.

"You're always taking pictures," he said. "We thought you might want to use something more... old-fashioned."

"Hinata helped you, right?" I said.

He smirked. "Guilty," he said, "but it was a good idea."

"Of course," I said. "It's a great gift. Tell Naruto thank you for me please."

He nodded. "I should probably get going." I wondered if he was having a good Christmas with Naruto. It was strange not having him here, honestly.

"Merry Christmas!" I said. "I'll see you later!"

"Merry Christmas," he said, and then started to walk back to his house.

Once I shut the door, I saw my aunt and mom looking at me. "That's the same boy from Thanksgiving," my aunt declared.

"So what if it is?" I said defensively. "We're friends."

My mom just gave me a knowing look. "What a friend," she said.

* * *

><p>I said goodbye to my aunt and grandma the day after Christmas. This time, I wasn't so emotional. I had already felt like I had said goodbye for good during Thanksgiving break, so it wasn't as hard this time even though it could have been the last time I would see them again. They weren't able to make it to my graduation - not that I minded the first time, I was only concerned with the after-party.<p>

"It was so good to see you again." My grandma was a sweet lady, no matter how much she drove my mom crazy.

"You too, grandma." I grinned before she walked out the door. Behind her, my aunt mouthed the words "save me" before she climbed into the rental car they had driven together in.

Once they were gone, my mom collapsed on the couch. "I think I just need a second," she said weakly.

The rest of the holiday went by quickly. I didn't see Sasuke again until a few days before New Year's Eve, and that was because I had stumbled upon him when I was going for a walk (I couldn't stand being in the house for very long that day - I love my parents, but I needed some time away).

"Hey," I said, "thanks again for the cameras."

"It wasn't much," he said again. "What are you doing here?"

"This is my spot too," I told him. It was true, we still came to the same spot when we needed to think.

He shrugged. "My brother's back in town right now, actually. He brought a woman he met when he was on vacation during Christmas and it's unbearable to be around them right now." I remembered this, Sasuke had been so annoyed with Itachi that he had stayed at Naruto's house for half the time his brother was in town (not very long anyway, he was gone before New Year's Eve).

"Sorry about that," I said. "If you need anything to do that's not with your brother you can always ask me. I'm getting sick of my parents too."

"Do you want to get coffee now?" He smirked. He must have been pretty desperate to get away from Itachi.

"Sure," I smiled. "Let me get my purse."

We stopped by my house (thankfully my mom was napping so I didn't have to explain what I was doing with Sasuke) for a few minutes so I could grab my things, and then we walked to his house to get his car. On the walk there, and on the way to the coffee shop, we talked about everything that was going on. The Hyuga family would arrive that evening from their vacation (the twenty-eighth), so Naruto was at the airport waiting to pick up Hinata. Most of my friends had gotten back from visiting family too (including Ino and Tenten).

"Are you going to Ino's New Year's Eve party?" I asked him. Ino had called me the day before to invite me to it.

"I think so," he admitted, even though he didn't seem happy about it. "I don't really want to, but I already said I would."

"It might be fun," I said, "come on, all of your friends are going to be there!"

"Are you going?" He looked up from where he had been looking at his hands.

"Of course!" I said. "If you think I'm going to miss an opportunity to wear a sparkly dress you are greatly mistaken!" I had already found the dress. It was the same one I had worn the last time - silver and covered in sparkles.

Sasuke just rolled his eyes. "Of course you would." He said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I said indignantly. He just shrugged.

"Anyway," I said, "I don't know who I'm going with." I explained that Tenten and Neji were basically an item, so I couldn't just steal her away _now. _And Naruto and Hinata were basically attached at the hip now that Hinata was back from her family ski trip. "I mean, it's not a huge deal, just I'm used to getting ready with them and all." I explained.

"You can ride with me." The words seemed to surprise even Sasuke.

I stared at him for a second before responding, it really caught me off guard. "You don't have to," I said quickly, "I wasn't trying to guilt you or something-"

"Come with me," he said again. "As friends. It'll be more tolerable that way."

_As friends. _"Okay," I said. "Thanks Sasuke."

I didn't see Sasuke again until the New Year's Eve party. Apparently Itachi had finally left him alone two days before the party, to Sasuke's relief.

He picked me up a few minutes before the party was supposed to start, like I had told him to. As always, I didn't want to be too early. I was dressed, as promised, in my glittery silver dress. It had capped sleeves and flowed to my knees, and I wore black heels with it. Sure, it was cold outside, but I could deal with it. I loved that dress.

"Wow," Sasuke said when I opened the door to his car. "That's a sparkly dress."

"Told you," I grinned.

The ride to the party was nice, and we talked comfortably. Sasuke looked focused when he drove to Ino's house (which was on the other side of town). That was something about Sasuke - there was something slightly intense about the way he did anything, no matter how trivial.

The party itself was much more animated than the Christmas party. For one thing, there were way more guests, and booze. I could hear the music from outside, and hear shouts from other people who were already there. Once we were inside, I was glad that I had arrived with Sasuke. Not for the image, but because it made me feel better than showing up alone.

"It's like the whole senior class is crammed in here or something!" I shouted to Sasuke over the music. Okay, so I was exaggerating a lot, but it was pretty crazy already.

"Hey guys!" Ino beamed at us. When Sasuke was looking the other way, she winked. I gave her a look that said "it's not what it looks like." "Glad you could make it!"

Sasuke nodded, still looking around.

"Thank you for inviting us." I smiled back at her. I hadn't seen Ino all winter break, and I had missed her a lot. Like me, her dress was covered in sparkles too (there were a lot of girls in similar outfits at the party - it was kind of a New Year's Eve thing).

Ino's parents were out of town that year on a cruise, so she had the house to herself. The last time, Kiba had gotten so drunk he was starting to black out. I had ended up spending most of my night avoiding him (besides the kiss at midnight...), and helping Ino. This time around, I was ready to enjoy myself.

"I have to go circulate some more," Ino said, "but we have snacks in the kitchen, and drinks of course, and you can go anywhere since you're my friends." She winked. "I've been telling everyone else that upstairs is off-limits."

"Sakura!" I turned around to see Naruto and Hinata behind me. I was surprised that they managed to find us so fast.

I screamed a little when I saw Hinata - I hadn't realized that I would miss her so much - and gave her a hug. "How was your vacation?" I said. "You'll have to tell me everything!"

"Of course," Hinata smiled. "I missed you!"

Naruto and Sasuke watched us reunite. Sasuke looked bored already, and Naruto was laughing about something.

"Sakura, your dress is so pretty!" Hinata said. "It looks great on you."

"Thanks," I said, "I thought it fit the occasion."

They broke away because Naruto was interested in getting more food from the kitchen, leaving me alone with Sasuke alone. "So," I said, "wanna find people we know?" Of course, I knew basically everyone here, but Sasuke knew what I meant. I wanted to find people we actually wanted to talk to.

We weaved through the crowd (it was a lot harder to do with Sasuke, because people kept stopping him to talk), and finally found Shikamaru, who was sitting by Neji and Tenten.

"Tenten!" I said with about the same enthusiasm as I had when I saw Hinata.

Tenten just smiled. To my surprise, she had styled her hair herself - it was down and straight. "It's been too long." She said simply.

"Okay," I whispered to her while Sasuke was talking to the other two, "we need to talk about you and Neji. I feel like I'm completely out of the loop here!"

She just nodded. "I'll get you caught up... So what are you doing here with Sasuke?"

I gave her a brief explanation. "We've been hanging out a lot over winter break because I've been having to go over Vice President stuff, and we just ended up coming here together... As friends." I said.

"Hmm." She said skeptically.

Before I could say anything back, something (or should I say, someone) caught my eye. Across the room, I could see Karin glaring at me vehemently. It looked like she was trying to set me on fire with her gaze. "What's her problem?" I said.

"She probably noticed that you're here with Sasuke." Tenten obseved.

"Whatever," I said, "she's going to have to accept that we're friends now. Besides, she's not even dating him anymore. It's not like it even matters."

"I'd be careful," Tenten said, "she seems a little..."

"Tipsy?" I completed her sentence. Sure, Karin could act out of control when she was drinking, but I wasn't worried. I could handle her.

"Yeah." Tenten said.

We stayed in that group for most of the night. Naruto and Hinata joined us after awhile, and we all sat in the same area of Ino's living room and talked. It was actually a really nice way to end the year. From across the room, I could see the majority of the girls eyeing Sasuke. I wondered how many of them had been hoping to finally get a chance with him. Sasuke was never mean to the girls that expressed interest in him, but he still made sure to keep a distance.

"I'm getting kind of hot," I told Tenten, who had been sitting beside me. "I think I'm going to go outside for a few minutes."

"Do you want me to come with you?" She asked.

"Nah," I said, "really, I just need to cool down a little." I was starting to feel light-headed for some reason. Besides, I didn't want to pull Tenten away from Neji. I was basically freaking out about how cute they were internally all night.

She just shrugged.

There were less people outside, but it was still a decent-sized crowd. I wondered how many people Ino had invited, and how many had just shown up. Not that she would care, I thought, Ino always took great pride in her party-hosting abilities. Ino's parents had a really nice back yard, with a swimming pool and a fire pit (that was currently in use), and a lot of chairs.

I made my way to the side of the house where there were less people. I sipped my drink, just ice water, and focused on feeling better. It was working almost immediately.

"So," a snide voice slurred, "I bet you're feeling like a hotshot right now." I turned around to see Karin glaring at me.

"What do you want, Karin?" I said. Seriously, was it impossible for me to have one moment of peace?

"I want you to stop talking to him." She hissed. I could smell alcohol, and she was carrying another cup of whatever it was she had been drinking.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said. Even though I totally did.

_"Sasuke,"_ she said. "Everything was fine until you turned up, bitch. I want you to go away before I have to make you."

"And how are you going to do that?" I fumed. My irritation had transformed into full-blown anger. I was suddenly furious. "How are you going to make me do anything? I have just as much of a right to be here than anyone else!"

"I don't know what you're doing," she said, her words still slurring together. It was a wonder she was able to talk at all. "But it's going to stop. I'm going to figure you out, and how you - how you managed to _steal my boyfriend._" Now she was just being crazy.

"You did that to yourself." I said, scathingly. Besides, it wasn't like I was dating him or anything.

"You bitch." That was when she threw her drink on me.

"Ow!" I shrieked. She had basically clawed me on the side of my face. "What the hell are you doing!?"

"That's enough, Karin." Sasuke had appeared beside me. "You've been drinking too much."

"S-sasuke." Karin said, her eyes widening. "What are you doing here?"

He just shook his head. "Come on," he said to me, "let's get you cleaned up." I found myself being guided back inside by Sasuke, who immediately led me upstairs to Ino's bathroom.

I didn't realize how hard I was shaking until Sasuke sat me down on the edge of the bathtub - partly from the cold, and the other part because I was so shocked. I knew Karin was crazy, but I had never thought she would freaking attack me.

Sasuke knelt down to where he was at the same level as where I was perched. "Are you okay?" He said softly.

It surprised me even more when I started to cry. I had started to respond, when a sob escaped. I tried to stop myself, but I couldn't stop. I was so embarrassed. I wasn't competent enough to go to a party with the guy I liked without something humiliating happening.

"Hey," Sasuke said. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" My voice came out in a whisper, fighting for control. I was still shaking.

"I don't know what Karin has against you," he sighed. "She was always... possessive when we were dating, but I thought that would end when we broke up."

"I'm sorry." I said. To my surprise, he wiped away the tears that were streaming down my face with his thumbs. I flinched when he touched the left side of my face.

"She really got you." He said, and stood back up. I saw him searching Ino's cabinets until he found some disinfectant and bandaids. He knelt back down, and tended to my face. Later, I would look in the mirror and she a large scratch that went across my cheek. It bruised a little, but thankfully went away before school started up again.

I was so surprised by how he was acting that I just stared at him. This was so like the Sasuke that I used to be best friends with. I had forgotten this, but he had always been so protective with me. Now, it was like nothing had changed at all.

Once he had bandaged my face up, he looked me in the eyes. "I'm sorry that happened. I should have kept a closer eye on you."

"I'm not a little kid," I said, "and it wasn't your fault. I should have been more careful, I guess." Not that I should have even had to worry about Karin, but whatever.

We sat like that until I stopped shaking and felt calm enough to start speaking normally. Then, he left again for a few minutes, and came back with Ino.

"Oh my god," Ino said, when she saw me. "Sasuke told me what happened Sakura, I'm so sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" I said.

"I can't believe her." Ino said. "Jealous bitch." I heard her cursing under her breath as she went back in her room and rummaged around. She came back with a pair of pajama bottoms and a shirt. "Here," she said, "put these on."

Obediently, I put on her clothes (Sasuke left the room for that part). "Thanks Ino," I said.

"Don't worry about it," she said, "are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah," I said. I felt a lot better now once the initial shock of what had happened wore off. Now I was just pissed at Karin. "Really, I feel a lot better. It's not that big of a deal-"

"Oh it's a big deal," Ino said, and she sounded scary. "No one does that to my friend and gets away with it." I learned later that Ino kicked Karin out of the party after that.

When Sasuke returned, Ino excused herself, saying that she needed to get back to the party. "Besides, you're in good hands with Sasuke." She gave me a look, and I realized what she was doing. I just rolled my eyes at her.

Once we were alone, Sasuke looked at me. "Come on," he said, "I know where we can go." He led me back into Ino's room, where he opened the window. I was suddenly bombarded by memories of having sleepovers here and going on the roof. How did Sasuke know about that?

Carefully, we climbed through the window, and took a seat where we could see everyone outside. Faintly, I could hear the music from inside. We sat down, side by side, and I felt thankful that he had gotten my coat from downstairs.

"My dress is probably ruined." I said, suddenly. Dammit Karin.

Sasuke snorted. "Half of your face was bleeding and you're worried about a dress."

"It was a nice dress," I said, "and it will be missed."

Sasuke just shook his head.

"Thanks, by the way." I said. "For doing all of that. You didn't have to."

"You don't have to thank me." He said.

We sat like that until we heard everyone counting down until midnight. And no, we didn't kiss or anything. But there was something comforting about having him beside me when the new year rolled in. Something that made me feel like maybe, despite what happened, everything could end up okay.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>So this chapter might have gotten a bit out of control... I'm not even really sure what happened to be honest. Thank you so much for your reviews and kind words! Please let me know what you think about this chapter, and if you like how things are developing. Any constructive criticism is welcome. :)


	17. Chapter 17

_"All I want is the best for our lives my dear_  
><em>And you know my wishes are sincere<em>  
><em>What's to say for the days I cannot bear"<em>

-Beirut

* * *

><p><em>"You know when you really need to do something," I said one day, "but you really don't want to?"<em>

_Sasuke shrugged. "It depends on what you mean." _

_I sat up from where I was laying on the ground. I had run into him on my way to our spot under the tree. "You know what I mean. Like... responsibility. It sucks. I know I need to start preparing for the future, but I don't want to. I'm kind of scared." Sasuke was the only person that I could be so vulnerable around. _

_"I know what you mean." He sighed. "I'm not even sure what I'm doing most of the time." That was rich, coming from someone who was basically perfect. When I told him that, he snorted. "Not even close." _

_"Oh come on Uchiha," I grumbled, "it's like you know exactly what you're doing in life already." _

_"I've had a lot of time to think." He answered me. I guess that made sense. Sasuke was alone most of the time, when he wasn't with Naruto or me. "Besides, you're going to be fine." _

_"You have too much faith in me." I groaned, laying back on the ground with a thump. It was spring already, and I hadn't even decided what college I wanted to attend yet. I wasn't even sure what I wanted to _do _honestly. No matter what I projected to everyone else, I felt like I was flatlining. _

_"You'll figure it out." He said. "You always do." _

* * *

><p>Everyone returned to school about a week after New Year's Day. I was actually kind of excited to go back to school after winter break - I was returning as Student Body Vice President. Thankfully, the scratch that Karin had given me at Ino's party had healed. There was only a faint scar (which I was still kind of pissed about) but I covered it with makeup so that it wasn't even visible.<p>

My parents had wanted to press charges after hearing about how I had gotten the mark, but I said no. I didn't want to draw any negative attention to myself. I hadn't really seen Sasuke either since that night either. He had called me the next day to check on me, but besides that I had heard nothing from him.

On the first day back from school, I was prepared to kick some butt. Our first official student council meeting wasn't until Thursday after school, but Sasuke had wanted to have an officer meeting that day so we could all make a plan for the semester.

"I think we all need to talk about what we want for the student body, and for the semester." Sasuke had told me that morning when he caught up to me in the hallway. I was just about to walk through the door to my English class when he stopped me.

"Hey Uchiha," I said, "I haven't seen you in like a week."

"I've been busy..." Sasuke said, but he didn't elaborate. I hoped everything was okay.

"I can meet after school." I told him. I really was about to be late.

Once I stepped into the classroom, I saw Karin. She had obviously been staring at the exchange between Sasuke and me, but when I looked at her she did meet my eyes. Did she feel bad or something? I hoped so.

To my surprise, Ino was sitting beside my usual seat, chatting with Hinata and Tenten. "Hey Ino," I said. "What are you doing?" She usually always sat with the group of friends she had in this class.

"I wanted to sit somewhere else," she replied, "for the new year." She told me later that she couldn't be friends with Karin anymore because of her drinking problem. Apparently it had been getting out of control before our little incident at New Year's.

I just shrugged. It's not like I was complaining.

I noticed a change in how everyone treated me since we returned to school. Thankfully, not a lot of people had heard about what had happened between Karin and me, but I did hear a lot of whispering when I passed by other students in the hallway. Also, I had a lot more people come up to talk to me. It was a little strange, actually. I had become so used to being invisible that this newfound popularity was hard to get used to. Really, at the beginning of the year I would have been delighted. Now it seemed out of place.

In fact, Art class was the only place that I felt I could really be myself. It was the place that I knew I wouldn't be judged, and that I was the most comfortable. Deidara was also pleased with how much I had progressed.

"This is much better than the beginning of the year," he informed me. We had just been sketching in class for the first week. We were about to start big projects soon and he didn't want to bother with getting a lot of material out before then. "See how your shading is now?" To tell the truth, I still wasn't quite sure what he was talking about, but I was happy that he had given me a rare compliment.

It was also a perfect place for me to be able to talk to Hinata without interruption. I loved Naruto, but sometimes I just wanted a moment alone with my friend.

"So," I said, "how is everything?"

"It's fine," she smiled at me, "just like everything now. How's your face?"

"It's great." I said. Honestly, I didn't really like talking about it, and was pretty ready for everyone to forget about it soon.

For my friends, it was like everything was going in their favor, and I was extremely happy for them. It kind of made me feel like I was taking care of them before I had to leave. If I had to leave, of course. I had even re-applied to the college I wanted to go to, plus one more that I had been thinking about. It was a way for me to feel like a normal high schooler again, and to be a little optimistic. Also, my essays were a lot more kick-ass than last time.

The day passed by, until the officer meeting after school. I was a little anxious to talk to Sasuke. He had seemed distant all day, in a way I couldn't describe. We had spoken some, but everything he said to me seemed very absentminded, like he wasn't paying much attention. I hoped that if I had some time alone with him after the meeting I could figure out if something was wrong.

I was the last one to arrive to the meeting (I had been running a little late because I had to grab something from the art room that I wanted to take home), and I found everyone staring at me. It was just the four of us today - Sasuke and me, plus the secretary and treasurer for the student body: Sai (the prodigy from my art class) and Jugo (one of the football team members that somehow ended up in the NHS).

"Good afternoon," Sasuke said to all of us once I was seated. "I wanted to have this meeting so that you could all meet our new Vice President," he nodded to me, "and so we could discuss what we're planning on doing for the semesters." He went on, explaining the plans he had sorted out, and the goals he wanted us to meet. I had to give it to him - Sasuke was very organized. I even received my own sheet of paper detailing what I was supposed to accomplish for the semester. A lot of it had to do with prom, but there was a significant portion that had some of Sasuke's own tasks that I was supposed to help with.

When the meeting was over, Sasuke left quickly before I could say anything to him. Obviously something was up, but how was I supposed to know what was wrong? Everything had seemed perfectly fine before we came back to school. I thought I had made progress.

A week passed, and he still seemed distant. Only Ino really seemed to notice.

"I don't know why he's acting like this." I told her, after I had become frustrated. Sure, back when I had been friends with Sasuke he had never really formed any other relationships with girls (at least, not much - the occasional girlfriend would come and go, but it was very short-lasting), but I couldn't remember him doing anything like this before. "It's weird though. It's not like he's ignoring me or anything, he's just being so... dismissive."

"Boys are weird." Ino said. We were sitting inside a café that was by her house after our Student Council meeting on Thursday (as it turned out, Ino was Secretary for the senior class). "I'll find out what his problem is though," she said slyly, "I always do."

"I hope so." I sighed. It was times like this when I was grateful for my friendship with Ino.

"He was so sweet to you at my party too." She said. "I don't think I've ever seen him look so concerned about someone who wasn't Naruto."

"Yeah," I said, "that was nice."

"He's probably just scared," she replied, "maybe he's not ready for a relationship yet or something, and he's afraid he's leading you on." Could that be it?

"I don't know," I said. "He hasn't really acted like he's interested in me that much." To me, he was just being a good friend.

"Are you being serious?" Ino laughed. "Of _course _he's into you. Why else would Karin be so jealous?"

"I don't know," I said. "Because she's crazy?"

"That too." Ino said, taking a sip of her coffee.

* * *

><p><em>"I miss you." It was a miracle. I was standing in front of Sasuke, and he actually remembered me. <em>

_I teared up a little when he embraced me. It was so warm, and I hadn't realized how much I had missed this. Just being close to him, and knowing that he loved me back. Well, I hadn't really known before either, but it was comforting now. "I've always loved you." He said, and I could feel his breath on my shoulder. _

_"I wish it could be like this right now." I told him. "I didn't mean for it to end up this way..." I trailed off. He looked bothered by something.  
><em>

_"It could be different," he said quietly, "if you wouldn't have treated me the way you did." _

_"I know," I said, "I was horrible and I'm so sorry-" _

_"It's too late for that now," Sasuke interrupted, "look what you've done. Things will never be the same. What makes you think I would want to be with you if I could remember what you did to me? I've always loved you, but you threw it away." He sounded more than angry - like he hated me. _

_"But..." It was like I couldn't find the words. "I love you. Isn't that enough?" _

_"It's all about you, isn't it?" He said. "It always has been." _

* * *

><p>I woke up shaking and gasping for air. I hadn't had a nightmare like that in awhile, and this one caught me off guard. I knew it was just a dream, but could it be true? Would Sasuke want to be with me if he remembered how I had treated him before? I regretted it horribly, but did that mean I deserved his love? I desperately wished that I had someone to talk to about this, but I knew if I told anyone they would think I was crazy. I wasn't even sure if I would be able to if I tried.<p>

Sitting up in my bed, I had an idea. "Konan?" I whispered. "Are you there?" God, I sounded stupid.

I waited a few seconds, to see if my summoning worked. To my disappointment, she wasn't there. Leave it to me to think that I could call some sort of witch/spirit/thing and have her respond to me immediately. She probably had better things to do anyway-

"You've never called me before." Konan looked out of place in my pink bedroom.

I shrieked. "I didn't actually think you would show up." I was hoping though.

"You have a lot on your mind," she observed. "You don't think that Sasuke will accept you back if he knew what happened."

"That's what I've been thinking." I said, wondering how she could get in my head like that. "How do I know if what I'm doing is right? For Sasuke, at least."

"That isn't up to me," Konan said unhelpfully.

_Then what is? _I thought. Instead, I said, "Is it against some sort of rules to tell someone about what's happening to me?"

"Not necessarily," she replied. Her glassy blue eyes revealed nothing. "However, in my experience those who have tried to talk about magic to their friends usually aren't received well." Well duh, I would think they were crazy too.

"I just wish I could talk to someone about this," I sighed, "it's kind of lonely, not having anyone to talk to about it. Besides you, of course." I added, although I wouldn't really call Konan's presence very comforting. It was the opposite actually.

"You don't have to worry about offending me, Sakura."

"Sorry," I said, "it's kind of a habit now."

"I'm glad to see that you've changed for the better." She said, surprising me. "This experience has worked out well for you."

"Yeah," I said sarcastically, "besides the fact that I could die in a few months if Sasuke doesn't fall in love with me, which doesn't seem like it's working out so far since he doesn't seem to want to talk to me right now." I suddenly felt frustrated. This was impossible.

"I never said this would be easy," she said. I felt like I had heard that from her a lot.

"I know," I said, "but can't it be a little less hard?"

She smiled a little, which startled me even more. "You have roughly five months."

I sighed. Why was this all so confusing? Konan was gone before I was done finishing that thought. I considered trying to go back to sleep, but - as usual - I was afraid to have another nightmare. I looked at my alarm clock; it was four in the morning. Great.

I went a few more days before I confronted Sasuke. I hadn't planned on talking to him about it, not really, but it slipped out one day after calculus when we were heading the same direction.

"Did I do something wrong?" I asked him. It was right after I had asked him how his weekend went (I hadn't heard from him at all), and he gave me a very vague, dismissive response. "Because I would appreciate it if you would just tell me to my face before I embarrass myself by thinking we're friends." Wow I sounded like a bitch.

He looked a little startled. "No," he said, "you haven't done anything wrong."

"Then why are you acting like I'm bothering you?" I figured I was in too deep already to back out.

"It's complicated." Was the only response he gave me. What was wrong with him?

"You seem confused." I went on. "Is there anything you want to say to me?"

"I'll tell you when it starts making sense for myself." He said.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, let me know when you stop feeling so conflicted." I walked away from him then. I couldn't explain why I was so annoyed with him. I think it had something to do with all of the progress I had thought I made.

* * *

><p>"What if I told you that we were friends before?" I was with Ino again after school. Shikamaru had been busy lately with the chess team, so we had been hanging out a lot more. "Like, for a long time?"<p>

"You mean like reincarnation?" Ino grinned. "I could get into that."

"Sort of," I said. But was it really? "But what if it wasn't from a past life. What if it was just last year?"

"I don't understand." Ino said, her smile fading. "Is this a new trend or something?"

"It's nothing." I said. "Just sometimes I wish I had been friends with everyone a little longer."

"It's so weird," Ino said thoughtfully. "No offense, but I don't even remember being in the same classes as you. I mean, I do, but it's very vague. I'm sorry if I sound like a jerk right now." She added. "It's just that Shikamaru said the same thing the other day." Did he really?

"That's so weird," I said. I wondered if it had to do with what Sasuke said sometimes. About me reminding him of a friend he had once.

We talked more after that, and then I left, wishing that she would believe me if I told her what was really wrong.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>This chapter is a little shorter than the last one, but I'm trying to write a lot while I can! I feel like this chapter might be a little more disappointing than the last one (and I'm sorry) but I'm hoping that I can make it a little more exciting soon. :) Thank you so much for the reviews! Please let me know what you think about this one!


	18. Chapter 18

_"I was catching up to tomorrow  
>Or I was caught up in the past<br>These days it's hard to tell what's out in front from what's behind"_

_-_Cloud Cult

* * *

><p>Nothing much happened the next week. It was mid-January now, and I felt like all my progress with Sasuke had gone down the drain. It was like I was back to mid-October or something.<p>

I didn't confront him again until later though. Not until it drove me crazy enough to do it.

It was a particularly cold day that month, and I had given up on matching my winter clothes and focused more on staying warm. I heard a few snickers from Karin's friends about how I looked like my grandmother's closet exploded or something, but I was used to it. Screw them, I was going to do what I wanted.

Sasuke had been practically avoiding me by now, besides some forced conversation whenever we were around friends. It was so strange, I had no idea that he would get this way and I was desperate to find out why he was doing this _now. _Had he suddenly decided he hated me or something?

"I asked Shikamaru if he said anything," Ino said to me before English one day. "He said he hasn't heard anything."

"I don't know why he's doing this." I said. I probably sounded frustrated - and I was. "Whatever, it's not worth dwelling over right now." After thinking about it, I realized that if Sasuke had decided that he didn't want anything to do with me I definitely didn't have much time left. I was upset, but I would have to start thinking about the time I had left with my friends.

I didn't think I would see Sasuke later that day, until I ran into him at our now-usual spot by the tree in the park by our neighborhood.

"Sorry," he said, and started to leave. "I'll leave you alone."

"Wait." It was now or never, I thought. "What's up with you lately? Are you sure I didn't do something? Because you're still acting like I'm a total nutcase or something." I wanted to scream at him, actually.

He just sighed. "It's not you, Sakura."

"Then why are you avoiding me!?" All of the emotions that had been building up finally came out. "I thought we were friends. You seemed like you wanted to be my friend over winter break..." _Don't cry, _I thought to myself. _Please._ I didn't want to feel vulnerable anymore.

He shook his head. "If you think this is easy for me-"

"That is literally the last thing on my mind." I said bluntly. Really, was I trying to get him back or did I just want to chew him out? I had never been very confrontational before - this was actually really weird for me. "Just tell me if you want me to leave you alone and I will. I don't want to waste your time." This was it.

"No..." To my surprise, he sat down by the tree. "Don't do that."

"I don't understand." I crossed my arms.

"It's hard to explain," he said.

I sighed, and took a seat next to him. "I've got all day," I said, "and I know Naruto's out of town so you have time too." I looked at him expectantly.

It was weird. Usually I would never act this bossy around Sasuke. Not now, at least, when I was trying to get him to like me again. But now it was like I didn't care. He was going to give me some sort of explanation, dammit. Especially if I might end up dying for him. He owed me that much, I decided.

"It's not that I don't want to be your friend," he said hesitantly. It sort of felt like I was being broken up with, to be honest.

"Then what is it?" I prompted.

"I don't know," he said. "This is going to sound crazy but... do you remember when I told you about how you remind me of a friend I used to have?"

I nodded. "Yeah," I said, "I remember."

"I couldn't remember her very well before," he said, "but there were small parts of her that I could..." He shook his head. "I probably sound crazy to you right now, but it's like I could see her sometimes. I don't know why I can't remember her as well anymore. Ever since we started hanging out more, it's like I'm losing her completely." He looked at me, almost embarrassed.

I felt myself tearing up, but I held it back. I wasn't going to cry this time. "Was she... special to you?" I asked.

"Very," he said. "Which is why I don't know why I can't see her anymore. She was important to me. I-" He stopped talking, like he almost let it slip out.

"Did you love her?" I whispered. Could this really be true? Was he distancing himself because the memory that he had left of me before was fading? How ironic, I though, that the very memory of me was what was getting in my way.

There was a long pause, and then he responded. "Yes," he admitted, not meeting my eyes. I wanted nothing more but to be able to tell him that he wasn't losing me. That I was already here.

"You know," I said, when I finally found the words to say, "I don't want to lose you either."

"I know," he said, "and I'm sorry. I feel stupid now."

"I didn't know her," I said. Lies. All lies. "But I think that she wouldn't want you to dwell on it. I don't think she's lost forever because you can't remember as much of her now. That's just what happens," I said, "when you don't see someone for as long. And maybe you're forgetting because the memories with me are taking her place, but that's not so bad, is it?"

"No," he admitted. "It's not bad at all."

"Good," I suddenly felt relieved.

Things seemed to go back to normal after that. Sasuke went back to being friendly with me. He started actually carrying conversations with me again, and we even met up after school one day to work on student council stuff.

Even though I had managed to fix everything with Sasuke, I still couldn't keep my mind off of what we had talked about. Did he still remember me from before? Could I use that to my advantage, or was he already forgetting? I was touched that he had tried so hard to preserve my memory (at the expense of our relationship now), but another part of me was in despair. Obviously he didn't love me yet, if the fading memory of me produced stronger feelings for him than spending time with me now.

I just wanted to tell him, but something told me that it wouldn't work.

"You're here early," I observed. Konan had appeared in the hallway when I was putting away a textbook in my locker after school. It was right before I was about to go to a student council meeting, actually. I hadn't even jumped.

"You called me last time," she reminded me, "and I don't usually answer calls from mortals." Was I supposed to feel special?

"I actually wanted to ask you something," I said. "Does Sasuke still remember me? Like, deep down somewhere? I thought you said that everyone's memory of me would be gone." It was weird standing around a bunch of frozen students. I don't think I would ever get used to her strange time-control.

Was it me, or did Konan look startled for a second? I wouldn't know, because as soon as the emotion showed it was gone. "Sometimes," she said, "if an emotion is strong enough it can fight our powers."

"So are you saying that he's fighting it or something?" I looked at her skeptically.

"Your friend's love for you was stronger than I expected," she replied vaguely.

"Is that why he's so afraid of forgetting me?" I said. "Is he going to lose those memories forever?"

"That is why he's afraid, yes." I noticed that she didn't answer my last question.

"I can't just tell him, right?" I figured I had better just ask now.

"You could try," she gave me a small smile, "but you wouldn't succeed."

"What," I said, "is there something preventing me from doing it?"

She didn't answer. "Your time is limited," she said. "It would be wise for you to remember that."

"Oh believe me," I said. "I wouldn't forget that... Hey," I said, "before you leave... you said something about 'our powers'. Does that mean there are more of you out there?"

"Of course," she said, like it was something that everyone should know or something.

"What are you?" I said, but she was gone. I found myself saying it to some poor student that had been passing by me. Dammit Konan, way to put me in the most awkward situation when you leave.

"Sorry," I apologized quickly, and then hurried away. I wasn't about to give an explanation.

* * *

><p>Student council meetings were probably one of the highlights of my week at this point of the year. For one thing, I got to sit by Sasuke. But that wasn't the only reason. I liked having a voice about what was going on in school. The week that I had confronted Sasuke was also the week that I was supposed to meet with the Dance Committee to decide on a theme for prom. It had been interesting, especially since the committee was mostly underclassmen who wouldn't get to go anyway (plus Tenten).<p>

"Okay guys," I said at the meeting. "The choice of themes we came up with are as follows: black and white, masquerade, Paris, Hollywood, video game... and Princess." I said the last two slowly. Those must have been the themes that some of the freshmen came up with.

Ino, who had been sitting a few chairs away from me, snorted. "So we're definitely not doing the last two."

"Video game would be cool," said a sophomore representative. He was ignored.

"Let's narrow it down to two choices," Sasuke interjected, "and then we can have the student body vote on it." He read each theme while I counted the votes. We ended up picking masquerade or Paris. Because I had been to prom the last time, I had an inkling of what the theme would be.

"Sakura," Sasuke said, "could you set up a voting ballot system that we can have during lunch?" He gave me an apologetic look, but I was in charge of basically everything prom so I wasn't worried. Besides, it wasn't like I wouldn't have help. I was basically in charge of the Dance Committee now, and because of my help with homecoming they loved me.

"Got it," I grinned.

We moved on to other matters that we all voted on. Some of this was actually kind of boring. I had thought that we would get more done in student council than we actually did. A lot of what we discussed had been tabled for next week's meeting.

"That's how it usually is," Sasuke told me after the meeting. "It's a lot of conversation with little result."

"We should try to do something big," I said, "before the year's up."

"You're saying that now, but wait until it gets closer to prom," Sasuke sighed. "It's going to be a lot of work..."

"Are you going to prom?" I asked him. It wasn't until the beginning of May, but I was still curious.

"Only because I have to," he replied. It was true - last year, he didn't want to go either. Who had he gone with? I couldn't remember. I had ended up going with Kiba, which hadn't been bad at first. Then we broke up for good, but it's not like I regretted anything.

"Well, I'm definitely going," I said, "since I'm basically in charge of it."

Sasuke just shook his head. I wondered if I was reminding him of myself again. How weird, I thought, that it was even possible.

* * *

><p>Weeks passed, until it was the beginning of February. Student Council had been putting on a fundraiser for prom that involved "candygrams" that students could send to each other for Valentine's Day. I thought it was kind of stupid, but we had gotten a lot of money from it so far.<p>

"I'm surprised," Tenten said, when she was manning the candygram table during lunch one day, "I didn't think anyone would actually want to buy one of these."

"Maybe you'll get one," I winked. Tenten and Neji were still at the "talking" stage of their relationship, even when they were almost two months into it.

She blushed. "I doubt it," she said. "We decided we aren't going to do anything for Valentine's Day, since it's stupid. I don't want to feel obligated to go out for one day in a year." Leave it to Tenten to be stubborn.

It struck me later that day that this would be the first Valentine's Day I would go without dating someone. It made me feel a little weird - had I been so desperate in high school that I couldn't be alone? Anyway, I thought, it certainly wasn't the worst thing I had to worry about.

"What are you doing for Valentine's Day?" I asked Hinata later.

"Naruto won't tell me," she said. We were sitting inside her room the weekend before, writing papers that Kakashi had assigned at the last minute. I guess he realized that he should start preparing us for the AP tests that were coming up. "He says it's a secret."

"Ooh," I grinned, "that sounds romantic."

"I just wish he would give me a hint," she laughed. Hinata and Naruto were such a good couple together. I wondered why I never noticed before the first time around. I guess it was because I had been so preoccupied with myself.

"It's going to be great," I assured her. And it would be. Naruto had told me a few days before that he had made reservations at a nice restaurant in the city for them. He had probably saved up for weeks.

Valentine's Day itself wasn't very exciting. Thankfully, I hadn't been charged with the task of delivering the hundreds of candy-grams (or sorting them out - I pitied the unfortunate students that had to do that), so I went through the day normally. It wasn't until the last period of the day (Calculus, for me) that the candygrams were actually delivered.

"E-excuse me," an underclassman that I had seen in the Yearbook Club meetings opened the door carefully. "I have candygrams..."

Asuma, who had just given us a packet to complete for the day, looked bored. "Get on with it," he said.

To my surprise, I got four of them. Sure, they were just heart-shaped lollipops with a messaged tied to them on pink paper, but I was still flattered. They read:

**U R SWEET **(Like that was original.)

**Have a GREAT Valentine's Day! Love, Your Secret Admirer (just kidding, it's Ino)**

**Will u be my Valentine **(Who was this from, anyway?)

**U are an amazing person and i hope ur vday is awesome!**

I just read them and laughed. When I was done, I turned to look at Sasuke and froze. His desk was covered with at least twenty-five candygrams.

"Don't. Say. Anything." He said, but it was too late. I had tears in my eyes from the suppressed laughter. Now I remembered. Every year Sasuke always got tons of stuff for Valentine's Day from his many admirers.

"This is great," I said, watching as he shoved the pile of candy into his bag. "You'll have to tell me what they said."

"No way," Sasuke replied.

"You're the only person I've ever heard complain about free candy," I told him, opening the candygram I had gotten from Ino. I had sent her one too, actually. Along with Hinata and Tenten.

"Valentine's Day is just about consumerism." Sasuke said stubbornly. Of course he thought that.

"I prefer to look at it as a day where I can stay inside and eat as much junk food as possible," I told him. It was true, ordering pizza and watching _Pride and Prejudice _(the one with Keira Knightly) were part of my plans for the night. Hey, I hadn't seen the movie version in awhile, and my parents were obviously going out tonight.

"I'll walk to your car with you," I told Sasuke, under the pretense that I could help protect him from any other admirers. I really just wanted to see if anyone would approach him.

Unfortunately for me, no one did. Maybe I really did scare them off. The only person who talked to us was Naruto, who wanted to ask what he should wear on his date (really, he's hopeless), and that question was more for me.

It wasn't until I was in my pajamas on the couch that evening that I had an idea. Sure, Sasuke was the most wanted guy in the school (at least, for the single girls), but he never said anything about having plans. It was with that logic that I found myself outside his door with a pizza and a bag of candy that my parents had left me (hey, free candy).

"What are you doing?" Sasuke looked at me, probably noting that I hadn't bothered to change out of my pajamas.

"I brought dinner," I grinned. "Now can I please come in? I'm freezing."

He let me in, and he was still staring at me so I continued. "All of our friends are busy tonight, and I got bored."

We sat in the living room, where he had been doing homework - boring. Next to his textbooks was the pile of candygrams he got. I added my candy to the mix, and we spent the rest of the night watching a marathon of an old sitcom and eating the pizza and Valentine's Day candy. It was actually really fun.

"You know," I told him, "you could pretty much date anyone you wanted."

He rolled his eyes. "Not really."

"Oh whatever," I said, "do you see all of this?" I gestured to the pile of heart candies on the table. "Those were only the ones that worked up the nerve to say something."

"I thought I found the right person," he said, "but I was wrong. I don't know if I even want to date anymore before we graduate."

My stomach sank a little, but then I reminded myself that my main goal was to be friends with him. "Do you think so?" I had forgotten that he had said something like this last time. Or chosen to ignore it.

He nodded. "If I did date someone right now, where would it go anyway? I'm going to college in the fall and it wouldn't work anyway."

"You have no faith," I teased, but really I was serious.

"No one here is really my type anyway," he said.

"I bet I could find your type." The words came out before I even thought of what I was saying.

"I'm not like our other friends," he smirked. "You can't just set me up with someone and expect it to work out."

"Are you challenging me?" I put my hand to my heart, like I was offended. "The person who has managed to help practically all of our friends be happy? You don't see any of them around right now, do you? That's because of me!"

He smiled a little. I was glad I could still make him do it. "Fine," he said, "but only because it's amusing."

I felt proud for a second, and then realized what I did. _Great, _I thought, _now he's going to expect me to actually do something. _Why couldn't I just keep my big mouth shut? Oh well.

"My parents are going to be back soon," I realized. "I should probably get back. Thanks for letting me hang out with you!"

"No problem," he smirked. "It wasn't like I had anything better to do."

I left him then, thinking that if the circumstances had been a little different that it could have been a date.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>I feel like the flow of this chapter could have been better, but there was a lot that I wanted to write about so I'm sorry! I'm still looking for a Beta (which is something I recently put on my profile too!), so please let me know if you're interested. Like I said, even if you aren't that great with grammar it would just be nice to have someone to read over what I have before I publish it, just to give me an idea of what you think and if anything makes sense. Thank you!

Also, I would like to thank GoldenPiggy for reminding me that Valentine's Day was coming up in my story. Sorry if this wasn't exactly the best situation, but I had a lot of fun writing it! As always, please let me know what you think! I really appreciate hearing from you guys! :) I'm trying to update as much as I can too!


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note: **Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in awhile, but I finally found Beta Readers so I have a good reason. :D Anyway, please let me know what you think about this chapter, I'm going to try and update more before the summer ends!

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, and to MelancholyMadness and TheRamenNoodleGirl (my Betas!). You guys are the best!

* * *

><p>"So," Ino said as she sat down beside me in Biology. We were doing a lab, but our group wasn't really working. "I see that you and Sasuke are friendly again. What happened?"<p>

"I just asked him what was wrong," I hesitated. "You were right, he's just scared of committing to someone again." It was sort of a lie, but I felt like there was some truth to it. How else would I explain our conversation on Valentine's Day?

Ino nodded and looked across the room to where Sasuke was working on the same lab alone. His group seemed to disappear with Naruto at another table and Neji being out of class that day. He was completely oblivious to what we were talking about, thank god. "That makes sense. His relationship with Karin wasn't very stable. That's why he's so reluctant to commit again, right Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru, a member of our group, sighed. "Does it matter?" He had figured out my feelings for Sasuke a few weeks before when he was talking to Ino about it. Ino swore she never said anything outright, but Shikamaru was perceptive enough to figure it out. Also, Ino wasn't the best at hiding secrets from him. Really, I was surprised more of our friends hadn't figured it out.

"Don't you want our friends to be happy?" Ino looked at Shikamaru expectantly.

"I think," he responded, "that what Sasuke wants to do is his own business." I thought I heard him mutter something like "troublesome" under his breath.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Obviously he's no help, I don't know why I asked him."

I looked guiltily over at Tenten, who was doing most of the work by herself. "Don't mind me," she said sarcastically.

"Sorry," I said hastily and began to help her with the lab.

"What we need to do," Ino whispered, "is go out this weekend. It'll be a group thing, but it'll be like a date because you and Sasuke will be the only single ones." The look on her face was maniacal.

"Count me out," Tenten said dryly. Even though we had been hanging out a lot more with her, Tenten still didn't like Ino very much.

Ignoring Tenten, I reasoned, "Will it even work? It's not like we don't do that all the time." It was true, we hung out a lot in a big group.

She shrugged. "It doesn't hurt to try."

"We'll see," I told her. Really, it seemed hopeless. I was just happy that I had Sasuke back as a friend.

I thought back to the challenge I had, idiotically, given myself. Finding someone to set up with Sasuke? Was that _really _what I wanted right now? God, how dumb was I anyway? Part of me wondered if I was just being selfish. Maybe he would be better if I set him up with someone before I went away. Then again, there was a chance that he wouldn't like her or, if it ended up being successful, that they would break up when he went to college.

_Who are you kidding, _I thought to myself, _there is no way I would set him up like that. _Still, it had been fun teasing him about it while it lasted.

Prom planning continued to consume my life. Before all of this happened I had no idea how hard it would be to orchestrate such an event. Of course, I had help from the administration, but I still had to do a lot of the work. I needed to find a DJ, secure a venue (there was no way we were having it in the school gym like the seniors last year did), and I had no clue what kind of vendor I should book, not to mention that the Student Council seemed to disagree on everything.

We had finally settled on a Paris theme, thanks to the majority votes from the student body. One of the ninth-grade representatives, Konohamaru, fought for the video game theme even after we had narrowed it down to two themes (_not_ video game). Part of me wondered why the underclassmen got to vote on prom themes since they weren't even invited without an upperclassman as a date, but then I realized I didn't care too much about it.

* * *

><p><em>"I can't believe him," my eyes are full of tears as I address Sasuke. It is the week after Valentine's Day and I am already fed up with my boyfriend. Sure, Valentine's Day itself had actually been okay, but did he have to flirt with other girls in front of me? "I'm so done." <em>

_"Why are you still with him?" Sasuke says, slightly alarmed that I had shown up at his house in tears. _

_"I don't know," I say. "I guess I always thought that he would change." Hastily, I wipe the tears from my face. We were sitting in his living room now, and it was obvious that he had been trying to get some work done before I had barged in. Kiba was perfect for me, I had thought. He was popular, good-looking, and on the football team. It had seemed like fate when he asked me out at the end of our junior year. _

_"It's not your fault," says Sasuke. "You just have really bad luck finding boyfriends that aren't complete assholes." That was true._

_"What can I say? I have a knack for it I guess." I reply, looking down at my perfectly manicured nails. I would, of course, keep dating Kiba. I wasn't strong enough to breakup with him yet - I didn't want the drama, mostly. Also, for some reason I thought he could change. _

_"Have you ever thought of dating anyone else?" I ask him. The last girl had been from another school - they had met at a football game, actually. She had been nice enough I guess, but the long distance ended up not working out. _

_Sasuke just shrugs. "I don't know," he replies. "I'm thinking about asking someone out, but it's not the right time yet." _

_"Well?" I say. "Who is it?" But he wouldn't tell me. _

_"I don't know if I should even try pursuing it," he says hastily. "Since we're going to college soon anyway. Who knows if it would work out?" _

_"You're right," I say, "maybe you should just wait until college to find a new girlfriend." _

_"Maybe," he says, but he looked unsure. "Have you ever had regrets... relationship-wise?" _

_I let out a snort of laughter. "My whole senior year has been a regret, Sasuke. Or have you not noticed?" _

_"You need a distraction," he says, and stands up from the couch. "Come on, we're going out." _

_"What?" I say. My eyes were still puffy from crying. I wasn't in the mood - or any condition - to go out.  
><em>

_Wordlessly, he pulls me up from where he sat, and led me to his car. I found myself staring out the window as he drove to the coffee place we liked to go. When I looked at him, he shakes his head. "Wait here." _

_We end up at our spot at the park under the tree. Sasuke had gotten me some hot chocolate (black coffee for him, the weirdo) and we sat in silence for a while__, sipping our drinks. I had always liked this spot - when I had first met Sasuke we used to go there all the time. I think something that made it easy for us to be friends was the fact that we could sit together without saying anything for hours without it being awkward. It was always comfortable. _

_So, that night, I felt comforted by the hot chocolate and my favorite spot. We talked a little, not about Kiba, and I found myself leaning against his shoulder. This was normal for us, I thought. One day Sasuke would be a great boyfriend to some lucky girl. I had no doubt that my best friend would find someone perfect. _

_"Sorry if I ruined your night," I whisper, on the verge of falling asleep. _

_"It was perfect," he replies._

* * *

><p>The dreams were coming back again. I mean, it's not like they really left, but they had at least become less distinct lately. For the past few weeks, I had gotten a good amount of sleep. In fact, it was probably the best sleep I had gotten since I woke up and it was the first day of school again. So I didn't understand why, after my weeks of glorious sleep, that they seemed to come back with a vengeance. It wasn't so much that the new dreams were terrifying (as they were sometimes), but that they seemed so real when they were happening. It was like my subconscious was teasing me with memories that I couldn't have anymore.<p>

That week I stayed busy with my Vice President duties - the Dance Committee especially needed help figuring out the budget for decorations and more fundraisers for prom. Fortunately for me, a lot of my work involved staying after school with Sasuke to discuss what we were going to do about everything.

One day I was in a classroom after school with Sasuke and I discovered some sort of request form that I had lost a few days ago. It had been wadded up at the bottom of my purse. "Excellent," I muttered.

"I see you found it," Sasuke smirked and looked up from the papers he was writing on.

"Shut up," I groaned. Okay, so maybe I wasn't the best at organization sometimes, but I found it incredibly unfair for Sasuke to hold me to his standards. I mean, he was basically perfect.

Sasuke sighed and put down his pen. "I can't focus," he complained, catching me off guard. Sasuke was always the master of staying focused, but I had noticed that he had been acting different today - even more reserved than usual. He was practically mute at lunch.

"What's up?" I asked, still trying to smooth out the poor form that I had just fished out.

"I don't know," he muttered. "I think it's because I haven't been getting enough sleep lately." Now that he mentioned it, I could see faint shadows under his eyes. Since I had been waking up in the middle of the night lately, I could relate.

"What's wrong?" I said. "Are you having a hard time falling asleep?" I was trying to figure out what the form was about now. The pencil that I had written on it with had become smudged and illegible. I hoped it wasn't something important.

"Don't tell anyone this," he said and looked bothered, "but I think I'm having nightmares."

I glanced up from my efforts with the paper. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know if I would call them nightmares," he said, "but when I have them I can't fall asleep again. It's like... it's something important, but I can't remember."

"Do you remember what they're about?" I suddenly felt lightheaded.

He hesitated. "It's kind of like I'm reliving memories from a few years ago. At least, that's what it feels like. Sometimes they have my family, or Naruto, and... that friend I told you about." He seemed to add the last part on reluctantly, like he was embarrassed. I felt a little touched. Was it because he admitted that he loved me or because he was finally opening up to me as a friend?

"That's strange," I replied, "I've never heard of that happening." Except that I was having similar ones about him all the time.

"You were in them too," he said, his voice even quieter, "but it was like it wasn't you... I can't explain it."

"Dreams are weird," I agreed, but by voice was shaking. What if I told him now? Konan had said I could try, right? I didn't think about the fact that she had said that it would be unsuccessful, but what else did I have to use? "Sasuke..." I began, and everything froze. I groaned, did she have to appear now?

"I warned you," Konan was standing ominously over me. "You will not succeed in telling Sasuke Uchiha who you really are."

"How do you keep turning up like that?" I complained, but it was mostly because I was disappointed. I had a strange feeling that if I had just pushed him a little more, he would have remembered me - if only for a second.

"He would remember you," Konan said, answering my thoughts, "but the consequences would be great. The enchantments placed on him that have prevented him from remembering you could be disastrous if he knew the truth."

"A-are you saying that the memory of me could kill him?" My eyes widened. "But why is he kind of remembering me? I mean, why is he always talking about his 'friend'?"

"Like I said before," replied Konan, "those are shadows of memories that he has kept. It is apparent that some of his memories are strong enough to fight the enchantments, much to our surprise."

"But-" I began to say, but she continued speaking.

"The reason Sasuke Uchiha hasn't been hurt by those memories," she explained, "is because he does not remember you at all. He does not know that the girl in those memories is you." To my surprise, she sounded apologetic.

"I hate this," my voice wasn't shaking as bad, but I still felt like crying. "I know this is probably stupid, but... is there any way that I can speak to him - the Sasuke that knows me - i-if I die? Just so that he can know that I'm sorry."

She gazed at me with her glassy blue eyes. "Sometimes I wonder if we did the right thing," she admitted. Before I could say anything, as usual, she was gone.

"Sakura?" Sasuke said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I lied. "I think I'm just tired too."

We called it a day then. For once I didn't jump at the opportunity to be with Sasuke for the rest of the day. Instead, I went back home in a trance, avoided my mom (who was in the kitchen), and hid in my room for the rest of the night.

I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened - was I stupid to think that I could get him to remember me for a second? There was something about the memory of me being toxic for Sasuke that made me feel uneasy. If only I had thought it through the night he had confessed to me, but I had been confused too. I hadn't meant to act the way I did, but there was no excuse for my actions. Giving up my life for him was the only thing I could do to make up for it, and it involved him forgetting everything about me.

I couldn't fall asleep that night until early in the morning, not with the thoughts running through my head. _He wouldn't remember me, _I thought, _if I died. He wouldn't even know what I did... _But did I want him to? Was it worth it to have him realize what had happened after I was already dead? No, that wasn't fair for him either. He hadn't asked me to do this for him. When I finally fell asleep, there were no dreams.


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note: **Hello! I'm currently doing my best to get more chapters up consistently. :) Hopefully this will be finished soon! Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story and for all of your great reviews! Again, I'd like to thank my Beta's - MelancholyMadness and TheRamenNoodleGirl - for helping me improve my writing. You guys are the best!

Please let me know what you think!

* * *

><p>In art class I had started working on a picture of a cherry tree - something that I had found a picture of online and couldn't resist attempting to paint. I had immediately thought it was beautiful and, since my name meant "cherry blossom", I thought the picture was a fitting project for me. Beside me, Hinata was in a discussion with Deidara about the dimensions of her piece.<p>

"Sakura Haruno," I turned around and Sai - the usually silent boy - was behind me. Something told me he didn't know much about personal space because he was definitely in mine.

"Er, yes?" I replied, taking a step away from him at the same time. I knew that he was one of Ino's friends, but we never really talked. In fact, our interactions hadn't been very polite after he'd called me ugly (it was a long story, he'd actually gotten a lot better at social interaction since then).

"Would you like to get coffee with me sometime?" He asked with very little emotion. "It would be a date, of course."

I suddenly found a good amount of the art class (it's not very big, okay?) staring at me. Sai's question had caught me off guard - I never expected something like this from him, especially after the whole "ugly" fiasco. Ignoring the stares of my peers, I managed a smile. "Sai, you're a great person, but I just want to be friends."

"I see," he scrutinized me for a second, "you really do like Uchiha." He then turned around and walked away.

I heard a giggle beside me. "Don't say anything," I warned Hinata.

"Not at thing," she looked at her painting, hiding a smile.

Rumors of my "brutal" rejection of Sai in Art had spread through the school faster than I had expected. In fact, Ino even called me about it after school.

"Do you have something to tell me?" Her voice was expectant over the phone.

"About what?" To be honest, I had already forgotten about that particular interaction that day.

"About you rejecting Sai in art class!" Ino exclaimed. "I heard it was absolutely devastating for him. Apparently someone found him crying in the bathroom." I could tell she wasn't being serious, she sounded too amused.

"Really?" I answered. "Because I remember him saying something about how I 'really like Uchiha' and returning to his painting."

"No way!" Ino laughed. "He really said that? I was just joking about what I heard - I know they're just rumors. That's what happens when the whole school knows who you are, I guess." Was I really that well-known?

"Oh he definitely said it," I rolled my eyes, even though I knew she couldn't see. Now everyone probably knew that I liked Sasuke, if they didn't already.

"I'm going to have to have a talk with him about accepting rejection." Ever since Sai had transferred in (which was strange in itself because it was in the middle of our senior year), Ino had taken him under her wing to help him integrate into the student body. He really needed it too - Sai was sometimes too blunt. He was really improving though, and he was an amazing artist. Deidara was even impressed enough to let him into Art IV late into the year.

"Please do," I said sarcastically. I didn't care enough to be upset about the situation. Besides, I was sure that Sai didn't mean anything by asking me out. Not anything bad, anyway.

"Hey, before I forget," Ino said suddenly, "what do you want to do for your birthday? I know it's coming up this month."

Oh yeah. My birthday, March 28, was coming up in a week or so. "I'm not sure," I admitted. "Nothing special. Maybe just a small party with you, Tenten, and Hinata." What had I done last year? I couldn't even remember.

Ino pretended to yawn. "Boring, but nice," was her reply.

We talked for a few more minutes and then hung up. I wondered if Sai's feeling had really been hurt. I seriously doubted it - he seemed to still be friendly with me when I saw him after school. I decided not to worry about it.

* * *

><p>The day of my birthday, my parents surprised me with a small cake in the morning.<p>

"Happy Birthday sweetie!" My mom beamed.

"It's hard to believe that you're already an adult." Was it me, or did my dad look a little emotional?

"This is great!" I proclaimed. The cake was strawberry - my favorite.

"We have presents for you," Mom said, "but we can wait until after..." she trailed off. "After school of course!" She was acting a little weird. I looked at my dad, who shrugged.

Cake for breakfast meant that the day was off to a good start. I had always been one to downplay my birthday, but secretly I liked it. Even if it was just another regular school day, I felt special. Today was my day. Even though I had never really been one to make a big deal out of my birthday, I still enjoyed it immensely. Especially now that I had my friends back to celebrate it with.

Still, today was a regular school day and that meant that I had to wait until the evening to celebrate with my friends. Ino talked about coming over later with Tenten and Hinata (what we had discussed on the phone), and I got wished a "Happy Birthday" by most of my friends at lunch.

The only one who hadn't wished me a happy birthday had been Sasuke and, although I hated to admit it, I was disappointed. He had seemed kind of distant all day with no explanation.

After school, when I was about to get into my car, I heard someone behind me. "Hey, Sakura!"

I turned around. It was Sasuke, looking relieved for some reason. "Hey," I said. "What's up?"

"Happy birthday." He looked guilty. "I'm sorry I haven't gotten the chance to tell you yet today."

I had been sure that I wouldn't hear from him today, so it was a nice surprise that he had come to find me. Any feelings of disappointment that I had felt before quickly disappeared. "Thanks," I beamed at him.

"I was looking everywhere for you," he continued. "Let me take you to get coffee - my treat, since it's your birthday."

"Only if you insist," I joked. I was actually pleased. It meant something to have Sasuke offer to buy me coffee on my birthday, especially after he had seemed distant all day. Besides, Ino and the others weren't supposed to come over to my house until later that evening. We were just going to eat some more cake and watch one of my favorite movies. I hadn't even planned on doing anything with Sasuke.

He picked me up from my house so we could ride in the same car. He was acting a little strange, but I thought nothing of it. He was probably just trying to be considerate or something.

We pulled up to the coffee shop, not uncommon for us since we had been using it as a meeting place for whenever I needed help with my Vice President duties. The inside was painted with earthy colors and I could hear music from one of my favorite bands playing. I watched as Sasuke walked straight up to the barista and ordered us drinks: a latte for me and black coffee for himself. I was touched that he remembered my order.

"Have you had a good day so far?" He asked politely once we were seated by the window - our usual seat, when we'd meet up to talk about Student Council business. The window was cracked today, so we would occasionally catch a chilly breeze from outside - a nice contrast from the warm environment of the shop.

"It was pretty normal," I replied, "but good."

Sasuke nodded. He was still acting distant, but I wasn't sure why. He was barely meeting my eyes when he spoke.

"Are you okay?" I smiled hesitantly. "You seem a little off today, no offense."

"I'm fine," he responded and took a sip of his coffee. I had always wondered how he could drink it black like that. I loved coffee, but the taste of it alone had always been too much for me.

"Well," I stated, suddenly aware of how small the tables inside the coffee shop were. Occasionally, his knee would brush against mine accidentally. "I'm happy to say that I finally got a venue booked for prom."

"That's great," Sasuke said, sounding amused. "Right before the deadline." He was smirking at me.

"Oh, shut up." I laughed. "At least I got it done. That's not something you could say about your other Vice Presidents." It was true. I had heard from Principal Tsunade herself that no one ever met the due dates for prom. It was a miracle that prom happened at all some years. Come to think about it, that was probably why the class before us had their prom in the gym.

"Is it true that Sai asked you out?" Sasuke's question interrupted my thoughts. I could tell that he was trying to be nonchalant about it, but I knew him well enough to realize that he had been thinking about it all day.

"Maybe," I teased. "Why do you want to know?"

He smirked again. "It's been going around the whole school." Since when was he one to listen to rumors?

"Well," I considered. "I guess I need to set things straight then. Yes, he did ask me out and yes, I did say no. It wasn't as horrible as the whole school would want you to think, though."

"I figured." He looked a little relieved. Was Sasuke jealous? "I've been meaning to ask you something..." He trailed off, refusing to meet my eye.

"Well?" I asked expectantly. "What is it?"

He opened his mouth like he was about to speak, but stopped and suddenly looked at his phone. "I forgot," he sighed, "I need to get my copy of _The Canterbury Tales _from Ino's house. Would you mind coming with me before I drop you off?"

"That's fine," I answered, forgetting about what we had been talking about before.

Sasuke seemed to have calmed down a little on the car ride back. Had he really just been dwelling on the Sai thing? Was he jealous? I smiled to myself, and looked out the window. He still wasn't talking much, but at least I knew it wasn't because of me.

When we arrived at Ino's house, I noticed that Naruto's car was in the parking lot. "Did he leave something too?" I was just joking, but Sasuke sighed.

I guess I should have been expecting it - I was friends with Ino after all and she wouldn't take no for an answer about throwing parties. I wasn't sure why it came as such a surprise when I saw all of my friends as I walked through the door.

"SURPRISE!" Several voices shouted, and I jumped a little, losing my balance and falling back into Sasuke. Thankfully, he caught me just in time and when I looked back at him I couldn't help but blush. Sasuke met my eyes with an amused look, and I blushed harder. It was like everyone at the party had disappeared for a second - even though I was embarrassed I didn't want it to end. Then, I came to my senses.

"Sorry," I muttered to him once I regained my balance. Hoping that no one else could see how red my face had gotten, I moved to hug Ino. "Thank you for this," I grinned.

Ino's living room had been decorated with pink streamers, with multi-colored balloons that looked like they had been blown up and thrown all over the place. A banner hung across the window that said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" in metallic letters. They must have been setting everything up while Sasuke distracted me.

Everyone that mattered was there - Hinata, Naruto, Tenten, Neji, Shikamaru, and of course Ino and Sasuke. I was flattered that my friends had made an effort to do this, especially since it was in the middle of the week.

"Tenten helped with everything," Ino shrugged. "I actually asked her to help because she's so badass at organizing events already." That was true - I was always asking Tenten for help with prom stuff.

"I hope you don't mind," Tenten smiled. "Your parents said it was okay for us to steal you for your birthday." I thought back to this morning when my mom had been acting funny - she was probably just trying to hide the surprise.

"It's great," I hugged her. "I feel bad for not doing something like this for your birthday!" Tenten's party had been a couple of weeks earlier - Hinata and I had thrown a sleepover party for her with just the three of us, and the next day Neji had taken her out all day.

"You know I don't like surprises," Tenten said, like it was obvious. "Only if it's for other people."

The party, although I hadn't requested it, was actually really fun. It started when Tenten brought out a few supplies: paper, pens, and a bowl.

"What's this for?" I stared at the paper.

"Party games, silly!" Ino answered. "We thought it would be nice to do something other than watching movies."

I shrugged. "Sure."

The first game involved everyone writing down something they liked and disliked on a piece of paper and placing it in the bowl Tenten brought out. Then, once everyone had written something down, we each drew out a paper and had to guess who had written it.

Hinata went first because she was the closest to the bowl. "Hmm..." She studied the paper. "Likes: Football and ramen... Dislikes: Sasuke." She looked at Naruto, who was sitting beside her.

"Why do you think it was me?" Naruto said indignantly, but couldn't help grinning at her.

"You don't really dislike Sasuke," I laughed.

Naruto was next, followed by Shikamaru and then me. When it was my turn, I stared at the paper:

**Likes: Chess**

**Dislikes: Stupid people**

"Okay guys," I shook my head, "the 'dislike' could be anyone!" I looked around the room. Naruto's had already been guessed, and so had Ino's. I thought harder about it - who liked chess? "Shikamaru," I guessed.

"You got me," Shikamaru said from where he was sitting next to Ino. He sounded bored.

The rest of the game got harder, with Neji's likes and dislikes (the only people in the room that really knew him well enough to guess were probably Hinata, Tenten, and Sasuke) - not to mention how Tenten completely threw everyone off when she didn't put "sharp objects" as her likes.

"Ha!" She exclaimed, when we all failed to guess hers. "That means I win."

"You can't win this game," Ino insisted.

"Who decided that?" Tenten said. "I always win."

"No," Ino argued, "because if you could win this game _I _would have."

"Why don't we play another game?" Hinata suggested. I knew she was just trying to avoid an argument.

"Okay," Ino agreed. "Let's play a game that you can win." She gave Tenten and evil look, which Tenten returned vehemently.

The next game was sort of like the newlywed game. Like the name says, it's usually a game that couples (usually newly-married ones) play to see how well they know each other. Since no one at the party was married, we were just going to partner up and answer questions about each other. It suddenly dawned on me that everyone was a couple except Sasuke and me - and I knew that if Ino had any say, I would be paired with Sasuke.

"Hold on," Tenten said. "Let's make this harder. That way, we know that whoever wins is the true winner." She had a scary look in her eye.

"This is just a party game," Hinata tried to keep the peace again. "I don't think we need to-"

"Let's do it." Ino interrupted. "Random partners it is."

We ended up drawing the names of our partners from the same bowl we used for the "likes and dislikes" game. It would definitely be interesting, I thought. Ino ended up getting Naruto, which was probably to her advantage because they were pretty good friends, and Tenten had ended up getting Hinata as a partner. That left Shikamaru paired with Neji, and Sasuke with me (somehow I felt that Ino had managed to do this, even though I couldn't prove it).

Sasuke smirked at me when he pulled out my name from the bowl. "How much do you know about me?" He taunted.

"You'll have to find out, Uchiha." I grinned back at him.

Tenten had a list of questions that she would read from. The objective of the game was for one partner to answer the question and the other to guess what they were going to say. Both her and Ino were deathly quiet - I could see looks of relief on their boyfriend's faces, possibly because they didn't have to be paired with their overly-competitive girlfriends.

"I'll do the guessing," I told him. There was no way he knew more about me than I knew about him right now.

"First question," Ino read from Tenten's notecards. "What is your partner's favorite color?"

"This is just a warm-up," Tenten said. "They get harder."

This was easy, I thought. It was blue of course. Everyone got this question right, so we were all tied.

Like Tenten said, the questions got harder. They progressed to "When is your partner's birthday?" and "What is your partner's favorite food?", until they were ridiculously detailed.

"You've done well so far, Ino." Tenten said. They were tied (having missed a question about their partners each). Sasuke and I had switched a few times, and we had done pretty well. We were behind a little because I knew him better than he knew me (which was to be expected). At this point, everyone was just watching the showdown between Tenten and Ino, because we were all tired of playing. Poor Naruto and Hinata.

"So have you," Ino grudgingly replied. "The next question is... 'When was your partner's-"

"Hello Sakura." I shrieked. Konan was standing beside me.

"This is a surprise," I looked up at her. She was staring down at me with an unnerving smile. "Are you here for any particular reason?"

"It's your name day," Konan replied.

"Hey," I suddenly had a thought. "Does this mean I'm nineteen now, since I've already had an eighteenth birthday before?" It was mostly a joke, but I was sort of curious.

"It doesn't work that way," she said vaguely.

"So do I get anything at least?" I was trying to be funny, but she didn't look amused.

"We do not give material gifts."

"Whatever," I said dismissively. "Can you at least tell me how I'm doing? It's hard to tell with Sasuke sometimes. Like, he seemed jealous in the coffee shop today. I just want to know if I'm getting close at all."

"I cannot say." She was as vague as ever.

Suddenly, I felt enraged. "Then why are you even here?" I glared at her. "I'm trying to enjoy possibly the last birthday I will ever have and you're here to not respond to my questions and remind me that I'm probably going to die in a couple of months! Can't you just be helpful for once!?"

"Your time is running out," Konan said. She looked a little sad, but that could have just been a trick of the light.

"Go away!" I shouted.

"Is everything okay?" Sasuke asked quietly. Everyone else was watching Ino and Tenten, so thankfully they didn't see my expression. "You look... angry."

"Everything's fine," I sighed. "This is the best birthday ever."

* * *

><p>Once all of the festivities were over (Ino and Tenten ended up tying in the game - they would have gone on longer if Hinata hadn't insisted on not being able to play anymore) and we'd had cake and opened presents, it was time to go.<p>

"Let me take you home," Sasuke insisted. "It's my fault you don't have a car here."

I said goodbye to my friends, making sure to thank Ino and Tenten especially for planning everything, and then we left.

Once we were in the car, I had a thought. "So this is why you were acting so weird today," I said. "You're usually a lot more collected, Uchiha."

He smirked. "What are you talking about? I distracted you, didn't I?"

I laughed. "You did," I agreed.

"I'm sorry I failed you on the partner game," he was still smirking. "I've never asked you what your favorite book is."

"It's _Pride and Prejudice,_" I responded. "For future reference - you never know. Besides, can you imagine if we had actually won? I would be scared with Ino and Tenten acting the way they were."

To my surprise, he laughed. "I never realized how similar those two are."

"They could be friends," I shook my head, "if they weren't so stubborn." Internally, I was screaming. When was the last time I had made Sasuke laugh? I had missed it so much.

"I wish we could have become friends sooner," Sasuke said suddenly.

"Why do you say that?" I asked. My heart was suddenly beating faster.

He shrugged. We were almost to my house. "I feel like I've known you longer than just this year," he explained. "I just can't help thinking that after all this time, I never knew you."

_But you did, _I thought, _I'm just the only one who remembers. _"It's okay," I said eventually. "We're friends now, aren't we?"

He smiled. I had missed his smile. "You're right," he replied. "I should really stop dwelling on the past."

"Maybe that would be for the best," I agreed, secretly wondering if I should be doing the same thing.

When I walked inside, my parents were waiting for me with their own presents. It was really nice, actually. I had missed spending time with just my family because we had all been busy lately. I would miss this, I realized, whether my fate was dying or just moving away to college.

It would be hard on my parents, I thought, whatever happened. I chose not to think about it that night - my birthday had been great, and I wanted to savor it while I could.


End file.
